HSC ''FastCat Ryde'' is a high speed

catamaran A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hull (watercraft), hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is requi ...

ferry. The vessel was originally built in Singapore for service in the Philippines as ''Water Jet 1''. She was bought by

Wightlink Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates Roll-on/roll-off, car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Yarmouth, and Portsmouth a ...

in 2000 and following an extensive refit entered service on the

Ryde Pier Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the world's oldest seaside pleasure pier. Ryde Pier Head railway station is at the sea end of the pier, and Ryde E ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

route in August of that year along with her sister ship HSC ''FastCat Shanklin''. From early Autumn 2009, Wightlink took delivery of two new vessels to operate the route, ''Wight Ryder I'' and ''Wight Ryder II''. Both the ''FastCat Shanklin'' and ''FastCat Ryde'' were retained by Wightlink until Spring 2010 and drafted in as replacements as teething problems occurred with the new vessels. They were then sold on to new owners in Bristol. On 12 January 2010, the ''FastCat Ryde'' crashed into Ryde Pier by landing heavily causing superficial damage to the vessel and a section of the pier. No one was injured in the crash and the vessel was sailed back empty to Portsmouth Harbour for a full investigation to be carried out. In 2010 she was sold, along with her sister craft, to Severn Link in

Ilfracombe Ilfracombe ( ) is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the North Devon coast, England, with a small harbour surrounded by cliffs. The parish stretches along the coast from the 'Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay towar ...

to operate a service between there and Swansea. As a result of a local competition she was renamed ''Rapparee''. The projected service failed to materialise and in August she returned to Southampton. In May 2011, having been sold to Alien Shipping, a Russian company, the two craft were transported to the Black Sea on board the ''Beluga Fantasy''.

References

http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1354043 {{DEFAULTSORT:FastCat Ryde Ferries of England Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight 1995 ships