Hovercraft Experience Days and Racing
Slide and float on a Hover Craft and
find out just how much fun these marvellous machines are on both
land and water! We have to admit, being on a hovercraft is pretty
noisy, with the wind in the skirt and duct fan thrusting you
forward it's all quite crazy too. We're not really sure how
hovercrafts actually work, but one thing's for sure, these
experiences around the UK are great fun.
Personal hovercrafts are surprisingly simple in terms
of controls, with just acceleration and steering to think about.
But the real hovercrafting skill is being able to make what is,
effectively, a big motorised fan on an air cushion, go exactly
where you want it to. And that's not as easy as it looks. Add to
this the adventure of hovercraft racing, where you compete against
the clock and you have an exciting and unusual hovercraft
experience day that individuals and small groups will absolutely
love. Read more...
Try a hovercraft experience - it's like floating on air!
Nothing can prepare you for the sensations you get on your very first hovercraft experience as you whizz over the water and skim on land too. Whether you want a hovercraft experience to race, or purely fancy having a go at it as a leisure cruise activity, we've got a selection of hovercraft experience venues around the UK for you.
These unique vessels are a mix of a motor cruiser and a fast sports boat. However, they look very different as they are amphibious and glide OVER water on a air cushion, rather than using a propellor IN the water. This means that hovercrafts experience less pollution (as they create no wake that can damage banks and doesn't pump exhaust emissions into the H2O either) than traditional boats. They are also much more versatile as they can go hovering, floating or zooming across inland lakes, waterways and seaside tidal locations too.
Learn the basic techniques to pilot a hover craft
You really need to get into a hovercrafting adventure to experience two things: 'Ploughing' and 'Hump Performance'. Ploughing is when you dip the nose into the water and get a rapid deceleration that can at best put you off kilter and at worst throw you out of the craft. A experienced hovercraft racing pilot can recover from this experience and is practically par for the course, especially if you compete.
So what on earth is 'Hump Performance'? This is the 'sweet spot' in the hovercraft experience world, when you transition from floating on water to rising up and riding over the ripple to glide on that fully inflated cushion of air. It's hard to get your head around, but you are actually skimming over the water at this point. How cool is that?!
Whizz over land and water in a personal hovercraft
For your Intotheblue experience you will be in a hybrid hover
craft that is capable of both hovercraft racing and a cruising
modes. It'll be something like a Flying Fish craft, as seen here on
this hovercrafting action video.
Incidentally, when we say race, it's not intended to be a contest,
but it certainly brings out that competitive spirit as you try and
beat the best lap time out on the water.
And of course, no matter how adventurous you may be feeling, when it comes to being a hover craft pilot, safety is of paramount importance. So you will be obliged to wear a helmet and suitable clothing. The hovercraft experience team at each of our UK locations will be on hand to guide, help and assist with your first foray into piloting one of these madcap cushions of air!