The Sydney hydrofoils were a series of

hydrofoils 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 ...

operated by

Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company The Port Jackson and Manly Steamship Company (PJ&MSC) was a publicly listed company that operated the Manly ferries in Sydney, Australia. After being taken over by Brambles Industries, the ferry service was eventually taken over by the State G ...

and its successors on the ferry service from Circular Quay to Manly. The hydrofoils covered the journey from

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 ...

to Manly in 15 minutes compared to 35 minutes for conventional ferries.

History

By the mid-1960s, patronage on the

's formerly lucrative Circular Quay to Manly service was declining. The company introduced a hydrofoil service halving the travelling time from 30 to 15 minutes but at a premium fare. Introduced in 1965, the first hydrofoil was a 75-seat PT20 from

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 ...

Kanagawa is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

named '' Manly''.Down Under Foils
''Classic Fast Ferries'' June 2002
''Afloat Magazine'' June 2007 Despite early troubles with harbour debris, she proved to be a success and three larger hydrofoils were ordered from Italy through leasing arrangements. The first of the three was a 140-seat Rodriguez PT50 hydrofoil, ''Fairlight'', built by

Cantiere navale di Ancona ''Cantiere navale di Ancona'' (Ancona Shipyard) is an Italian shipyard. History Active in Roman and medieval times, it was refounded in 1843 when Ancona was under the control of the Papal States. Acquired by Rodolfo Hofer in 1899, it was com ...

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

and entered service in 1966. It would be joined by the ''Dee Why'' in 1970 and ''Curl Curl'' in 1973. These were joined by the ''Palm Beach'' purchased second hand from Macau in 1975 and the ''Long Reef'' from Italy in 1978. In March 1973, ''Curl Curl'' was used on a hydrofoil service from Circular Quay to Gladesville, however, the service was short-lived due to river bank damage. The hydrofoils, along with the conventional Manly ferries, ''North Head'', ''Baragoola'', and ''South Steyne'', were taken over by Brambles when it acquired the Port Jackson company. The hydrofoils were profitable for Brambles as they were leased rather than owned outright. In 1974, the NSW State Government's

Public Transport Commission The Public Transport Commission (PTC) was an agency of the Government of New South Wales responsible for the provision of rail, bus and ferry services in New South Wales, Australia from October 1972 until June 1980. Upon dissolution, responsib ...

took over the Manly ferry and hydrofoil services, and the hydrofoils were purchased from a finance company in 1975. In 1984/85, two 235-seat hydrofoils, ''Manly IV'' and ''Sydney'' entered service. The

State Transit Authority The State Transit Authority of New South Wales, also referred to as State Transit, was an agency of the Government of New South Wales operating bus services in Sydney. Superseding the Urban Transit Authority in 1989, it was also responsible for ...

replaced its remaining hydrofoils with three JetCats, with the last operating on 18 March 1991. The remaining vessels were sold for further service on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. ''Fairlight, Dee Why'' and ''Palm Beach'' were scrapped at Homebush Bay in 1988.Youtube film Homebush Bay 1988 the scrapping of Fairlight, Dee Why & Palm Beach

Vessels

Trivia

The

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial lic ...

, a pioneering digital

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

, was named for the ''Fairlight II'', which, in turn, was named after

Fairlight, New South Wales Fairlight is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairlight is located 13 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is part of ...

References

External links

{{Sydneyferries, state=collapsed Ferry transport in Sydney Hydrofoils Ships built in Ancona