J U N E 2 0 0 2 n S P E C I A L classic f a s t ferries S C A L E INCLUDES NEW 7-PAGE BB OO XX ARTICLE J U N E 2 0 0 2 n S P E C I A L classic f a s t ferries PHOTO ON COVER COPYWRIGHT 2000/2002 AND RELEVANT NEWS ITEMS ARE ENCOURAGED! EDITOR/PUBLISHER: TIM TIMOLEON ISSUED IN PDF FORMAT; PLEASE CHECK OUR SITE ON THE WEB FOR NEXT ISSUE DETAILS: HTTP://CLASSICFASTFERRIES.GO.TO THE ONLY PERIODICAL ABOUT HEYDAY OF PASSENGER HYDROFOILS, HOVERCRAFT & CATAMARANS - PLUS RELEVANT NEWS : MARTIN GRIMM CLASSIC FAST FERRIES n ALL ARTICLES, ARTWORK & DESIGNS BY THE EDITOR, EXCEPT WHERE NOTED n EMAIL.: c f @ e m a i l . d k W elcome aboard the Sydney Hydrofoils ! The first part of this SPECIAL written by Ian Wrenford, a member edition of classic fast ferries is a of the Australian Plastic Modellers reprint of an article by Martin Association. Grimm which appeared in the He took a set of plans, numerous August 2000 c f f (No. 5/2000). photographs, some good advise Also a 'Special', it was published to from friends and strangers, sheets of n coincide with the 2000 Olympics styrene and various artist's materials, SUBMITTALS OF MANUSCRIPTS AND PHOTOS, OLD NEW, in Sydney, Australia, etc. and turned it into an excellent commemorating the long since 1:72 scale static model of the defunct hydrofoil service on former Sydney PT.50 hydrofoil Sydney harbour which, introduced Fairlight. And in less than three n in January 1965, lasted for almost months too. 27 years. Now, there's our two good c o v e r : As, regrettably, that issue is no motives for doing another c f f A hydrofoil out longer available we've found it Special. We are sure you can think of the water appropriate to do a rerun, both of more . always makes for the sake of new readers and an impressive sight, especially the author (as well as the good A l s o r e a d . when viewed story in itself!). from down The original text was left the story about another hydrofoil on under. untouched, whereas the article lay Curl Curl was Sydney Harbour – Manu Wai – in the the sole RHS out has been completely revised, 140 in the including more and larger or December 2001 classic fast ferries. Sydney fleet improved photos. A private venture, this was not (MARTIN In addition, the present 'Sydney related to the State Transit hydrofoil GRIMM) Special' holds a completely new article about hydrofoil modeling operation and is not included here. 2 classic fast ferries S P E C I A L – 2002 O P P O S I T E : Passengers enjoying the scenery from the open air deck on PT.50 Fairlight (IAN WRENFORD) B E L O W : Rodriquez RHS 160F Sydney was the last hydrofoil to be introduced on the 7-mile Sydney Circular Quay to Manly run. It operated here for only six years, 1985-1991 (STEPHEN JONES) Seven Miles from Sydney... classic fast ferries S P E C I A L – 2002 3 T h i s p a g e : Hitachi PT.20 Manly as delivered passes the easily recognizable Harbour Bridge, also nick-named 'The Coat Hanger' (HITACHI) O p p o s i t e : Sydney's first Rodriquez PT.50, Fairlight, during pre-delivery trials in the Straits of Messina in 1966 (RODRIQUEZ) And a Thousand F or those who have the opportunity Maru. She was unloaded the following to visit Sydney during the 2000 day at Glebe Island freight terminal. Olympics, they will certainly need to Manly had been built at the Hitachi take the time out to visit Sydney Kanagawa shipyard, Japan. A Harbour and its landmarks such as the Supramar licensee, Hitachi had been Harbour Bridge (also known locally as building hydrofoils to their designs the ‘coat hanger’) and the Opera since 1961and Manly was the eighth of House. A ride to Manly on the the PT.20 type completed by the yard. harbour ferries should also not be The Port Jackson and Manly Steam missed. Ship Company Limited (PJ&MSC) had M A R T I N G But our visitors will have missed out purchased her at a cost reported to be on the glory days of hydrofoil around 140,000 Australian Pounds. operations on Sydney harbour. Manly was the first hydrofoil B Y In fact, part of that history ended introduced in Australia. very nearby to the site of the Olympic On New Year's Day in 1965 Manly games... was already running foilborne outside the heads of Sydney harbour on the T h e E a r l y Y e a r s first of a series of trials. In the The tale all started with the arrival of following days further demonstrations the Supramar A.G. designed PT.20 were made for the local maritime Manly in Sydney late in the evening of authority. The president of the Wednesday 30th December 1964 on Maritime Services Board, Captain J. H. board the Japanese freighter Kanto 4 classic fast ferries S P E C I A L – 2002 Miles from Care seven miles from the heart of city was this resort-like place where you could relax and forget about everyday life. Steamship Company advertising at a time when Manly was still get-away-from-it-all part of greater Sydney. Just The title, Seven Miles from Sydney And a Thousand Care, Simpson, said that Sydney had to There was an early hickup in the “keep up with the times” and as such service when, only on the morning he wanted to witness the vessel’s after it commenced its scheduled capabilities before deciding whether service, its bow foil nudged the wharf any operating restrictions would be at its depot in Neutral Bay on Sydney necessary. harbour while the hydrofoil was going Due to initial concerns about the astern. But the damage was minor with manoeuvrability of the hydrofoil in the the foil ram being torn from its crowded waters of Sydney harbour mounting. The embarrassed new during weekends, Manly was initially owners hurriedly unpacked the restricted to hullborne operations in necessary spare parts from the crates the main harbour area during the of spares, which had arrived with the weekends. This restriction was lifted hydrofoil, and it was back in operation within three months. a couple of days later. A public demonstration run with While the passenger wharves at VIPs on board followed and on the Manly and Circular Quay had already was adopted from old Port Jackson & Manly morning of Thursday January 7th the been fitted with overhanging fenders hydrofoil commenced its scheduled to suit the PT.20, the berthing facilities commuter service between the were subsequently also improved at northern Sydney coastal suburb of the depot so that a repeat incident Manly and Circular Quay at the heart could be avoided. of the city. With a speed of 34 knots, Manly could complete the seven S m a l l N e w K i d nautical mile journey from Manly to O n T h e B l o c k Circular Quay in 17 minutes. She had seating for 72 passengers. Tickets for The hydrofoil was of course a ‘new kid the first scheduled trip were already on on the block’ as up to that point sale the previous day and the lucky PJ&MSC had operated a number of first passenger on the service was Mr. traditional ferries on the Manly Alfred Garnett, a Sydney resident. toCircular Quay route. These ferries were already around 40 years old and classic fast ferries S P E C I A L – 2002 5 while they were quite grand in their A b o v e : The brand new PT.50 Fairlight time, had been left in a run down state (left) being raced against the still fairly new by the mid 1960s and were starting to PT.20 Manly – and a less new traditional become unreliable. Patronage on the Sydney–Manly ferry. Note different Manly to Circular Quay ferry service approach in the paint schemes on the hydrofoils had also fallen in the face of improved road links. None the less, the ferries L e f t : Leaflet promoting the new Fairlight (PJ&MSC / ESSO, both) retained their share of devoted commuters, even after the O p p o s i t e : Manly foils past a densly built-up area on the Sydney waterfront in introduction of the hydrofoil service. 1969 (PETER CLARK) One sceptical newspaper columnist was quick to point out that even if the hydrofoils could complete twice as many trips during the morning peak period than the conventional ferries, it would still take fourteen as Pounds/Shillings/Pence), Manly PT.20 or seven PT.50 size hydrofoils to match was an attractive alternative for some the carrying capacity of businessmen who arrived at their the four much larger destination around 15 to 20 minutes earlier than with the traditional conventional ferries alternative which took about half an which could carry hour or more to complete the trip. some 4000 commuters Manly was intended as much as to the city during the anything to trial the suitability of two hour morning peak period. This operating hydrofoils on the Sydney was of course a fair harbour run. But even when she was observation. introduced the managing director of PJ&MSC, Mr. John C Needham, Many commuters indicated that more and larger indicated they hydrofoils would be imported if Manly could not afford proved to be a success.