SailLink, the venture to provide an eco-adventurous cross-channel connection, has announced the launch of its services and the sailing schedule starting on 5 April.
The new passenger service has been in research and feasibility testing since 2019, with each development being a cautious further validation towards this moment. Traversing between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer, with a total crossing time of 4 to 5 hours and for a maximum of 12 passengers, SailLink will offer a convenient, personal and nature-made alternative between town-central marinas for pedestrians and cyclists.
Particularly following the successful pilot phase in September 2022 and the formalising of border procedures post Brexit, SailLink is now preparing to offer a unique travel experience aboard their fast catamaran sailing vessel, measuring 17m (56ft) long by 9m (30ft) wide. Travelers will have the opportunity to actively participate in sailing and discover this short but decisive stretch of water in a four-hour experience. The vessel can accommodate up to 12 passengers in a sheltered cockpit with ample indoor space for luggage and bicycles.
Andrew Simons, founder of SailLink, said: “Developing this venture has been one small step after the other, made together with many other people and partners and now we’re just at the start. For me this project represents a simple but very symbolic bit of normality in the world I would like, where we exploit the naturally prevailing forces, here of wind and tide, which make it the most obvious and natural way to travel, and in this case between the UK and France. Most of all SailLink is about connection and in the many forms we can enable it – between those on board, with the destinations, towns and cultures, with the ocean and nature of course, and with ourselves. The Channel is timeless and the sea itself challenges us beyond our everyday comfort zones.”
