MV ''Manly'' was a Supramar PT20 type

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

ferry which operated on

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

from 1965 to 1980. It was the first hydrofoil to operate on Sydney Harbour.

Design and construction

''Manly'' was built by

Hitachi () is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is the parent company of the Hitachi Group (''Hitachi Gurūpu'') and had formed part of the Ni ...

in Japan under licence from Sachsenberg Supramar. The hull was constructed from

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

and the foils from

tempered steel Tempering is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys. Tempering is usually performed after hardening, to reduce some of the excess hardness, and is done by heating the metal to some temperature be ...

. It arrived in Sydney on 30 December 1964 underwent a series of trials the following week.

Service history

''Manly'' commenced regular passenger services between

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

and Manly on 7 January 1965. The journey took 17 minutes (9 minutes on foils) compared to 32-37 minutes by other ferries in service at the time. The fare on the high speed service was 3 shillings (about $3.80 in 2015 prices) more than on regular ferries. The PT20's propellers had a design fault and were replaced by the manufacturer in 1968.Roy McLeavy, ''Jane's surface skimmer systems'', S. Low, Marston, 1969. After larger hydrofoils were delivered, in 1973 ''Manly'' operated a new service between

and

Gladesville Gladesville is a suburb in the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Gladesville is located 10 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Ryde a ...

. This service was withdrawn after only 6 months due to excessive noise when operating on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Seco ...

and the lack of backup vessel. ''Manly'' was then kept in reserve for other hydrofoils. The hydrofoils were expensive to operate and prone to mechanical failures. ''Manly'' was withdrawn in 1980 and laid up in

Neutral Bay Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Neutral Bay takes ...

Fate

''Manly'' was sold to Hydrofoil Seaflight Services Pty Ltd in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and renamed ''Enterprise'' for use between Rosslyn Bay and

Great Keppel Island Great Keppel Island (''Woppaburra, Wop-Pa, Wapparaburra'') lies from the coast off Yeppoon in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Capricorn Coast of Central Queensland. The island's traditional owners are the Wopp ...

. The service was unsuccessful and ''Enterprise'' was sold to a private owner. The new owner removed the foils and engine, and the hull was laid up in Rosslyn Bay for several years. The hull was transported to

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

in 1991 where it was intended to be used as a floating restaurant. In 1995 the hull was transported to a private property north of Sydney for conversion to a private cruise boat. It remains there to this day.

References

* "Seven Miles from Sydney and a Thousand Miles from Care", ''Classic Fast Ferries'', June 2002, pp1-15 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manly Ferries of New South Wales Ferry transport in Sydney 1964 ships