MV ''Red Jet 6'' is a high-speed

Catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-sta ...

ferry constructed for Red Funnel in

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

as the sixth member of the company's expansive ''Red Jet'' line of catamarans. Red Funnel announced in May 2015 that they had placed an order for the £6 million vessel with Shemara Refit LLP of East Cowes, making ''Red Jet 6'' the first high-speed ferry built in the UK in fifteen years. Red Jet 6 was constructed in East Cowes's former aircraft hangar, originally built for the

Saunders-Roe Saunders-Roe Limited, also known as Saro, was a British aero- and marine-engineering company based at Columbine Works, East Cowes, Isle of Wight. History The name was adopted in 1929 after Alliott Verdon Roe (see Avro) and John Lord took a ...

aircraft company. She entered service in the summer of 2016. ''Red Jet 6'' is long, with a passenger capacity of 275. She is powered by four MTU series 2000 diesel engines, each powering a waterjet for propulsion and steering giving a service speed of , allowing a crossing time of 23 minutes. She can operate with one engine out with only a minor reduction in speed. ''Red Jet 6'' was named by the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been se ...

at a ceremony at East Cowes on 4 July 2016. On 29 June 2017, ''Red Jet 6'' set a new record for the circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight by multihulls, starting and finishing at the

Royal Yacht Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...

starting line at

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Fl ...

, taking 1hr, 17mins, 17secs at an average speed of .

References

External links

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Red Jet 6 Construction time lapse at East Cowes
Ferries Individual catamarans Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight Ships of Red Funnel 2016 ships {{Ferry-stub

See also

References

External links