The Coastal pro

The Marlin is built in-house from a reinforced GRP (Fibreglass) hull. The GRP is backed up with Kevlar and core materials where necessary and is perfect for hovercraft manufacture. The colour is impregnated to a shiny, high-gloss gel-coat, not simply sprayed on. That shiny surface not only looks great, but also means that after a day enjoying a muddy foreshore, a filthy dirty craft can be brought back to pristine finish simply using a pressure washer and truck-wash – easy! One other advantage that we hope you’ll never need to benefit from, is that GRP is very mendable. Any impacts or accidents which damage the hull can be repaired – usually invisibly – and to a standard as good as new.

Inside the hull, the closed-cell buoyancy foam further backs up the integrity of the structure and provides flotation enough to maintain the craft and passengers even were the craft fully swamped.

Ready to fly, the Marlin weighs approximately 210-235kgs (460-520lbs) depending on specification so it’s easy to load and unload from the trailer on your own.

Skirt

Hovering approx. 30cms (12ins) in the air on its ‘finger’ or segmented skirt, the Marlin flies with great ease. This efficiency means that just the skirt ‘tips’ are touching the ground and as a result of this almost frictionless seal, performance is improved and wear reduced. Skirt wear is something that first-time owners are often concerned about but in actual fact, is simply not an issue. Think of the skirt like the tyres on a car. How you drive it and the surface you use it on will effect how long it lasts. The Marlin skirt comprises 56 individual segments (68 in the Beast) which has enormous advantages over a ‘bag/loop’ design used on large hovercraft. Any damage or excessive wear is localised, and quickly and easily repaired – it takes just a couple of minutes to change a segment. Being individual segments means the skirt works more effectively and can seal more fully on the land or water which gives the best possible lift and effortless performance. The chances are that you’ll do whole days cruising without ever having to change a single segment. As a guideline, we usually find that most recreational customers using their hovercraft on a mix of land, sand, mud and water will get around two years wear from a skirt, and will use a dozen or so spares during that time. New skirt segments are inexpensive and can even be repaired if preferred.

Given the unique characteristics of hovercraft, there’s very rarely a straight to a straight question. Even perfectly reasonable questions such as ‘How fast does it go?’ or ‘How much will it carry?’ can be challenging to answer.

The figures given are very modest and we have exceeded all of them in testing. For instance, I once managed around 100km/h (60mph) in a Marlin II, driving on a frozen French lake (whilst dressed up as Santa Claus…it was a strange day!) which is something I have no desire to repeat! However, the same craft, fighting it’s way home two-up through choppy seas and a nasty headwind may well struggle to do 20mph. It’s the same with any small vessel – but the variation in hovercraft performance is more pronounced than a conventional boat and very effected by wind, sea conditions and load. Just as speed varies in such conditions, so of course does fuel economy – another hugely variable average! Take a look at the diagram below, which attempts to show the relationship between weight/surface and wind.

A Marlin will manage around 57km/h (35mph) on smooth water with a competent driver at the controls, into a gentle headwind. In poor conditions, as stated above – 35km/h (20mph) might be realistic, but this can only ever be a broad guideline. Suffice to say, the Marlin is fast enough to be enormous fun! In fair conditions, two-up, a Marlin cruises at around 40km/h (25mph) with great fuel efficiency and can lift around 200kgs (450lbs) on water. This modest claim of is because this is the hovercraft’s ability to get back ‘onto the plane’ should you stop on the water. On land, or when not needing to stop on the water, this limit can easily be exceeded.

Sea conditions are also difficult to recommend as again, load and wind have an equal effect but driver skill also has a major effect on how well the craft will cope with rough water. As a rule, we say that small hovercraft are pretty much as capable as a hard boat of the same size. However, in poor conditions, give me a RIB or SIB anytime!

Using your hovercraft, on private land, is entirely a matter for yourself and there’s no need to meet any restrictions on marine use.

As far as use in the marine environment is concerned, in the UK at least, there is no legal requirement for a license or qualifications to drive either a boat or hovercraft. However, like any other boat, it’s crucial you prepare properly for its use. Hovercraft aren’t magic, and failure to respect the sea can land you in trouble, whatever you’re driving. We advise joining the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain (HCGB) and – initially at least – using your craft with others at organised events. We’ll teach you how to drive your new craft as part of the ‘handover’ when you come to collect it, or your local dealer will, but if you have no maritime experience, we recommend gaining some basic boating qualifications from the RYA, Powerboat II for instance.

Before using your craft in a maritime environment, you should equip yourself adequately with all necessary equipment, clothing and safety gear, register it and carefully check the weather and tidal charts before setting out. If you don’t have relevant safety equipment, consider adding in an optional but recommended ‘Coastal Kit’ which includes everything you need to use the Snapper in an ‘uncontrolled’ environment – estuaries, rivers etc.

Where can I use my hovercraft?

Very few of our owners have any issues using their hovercraft in a marine environment. Drive sensibly, with due respect to other water users and public, follow our code of practice, understand what you can and can’t do, where you can and can’t operate your hovercraft – and you should be safe in the knowledge you are breaking no laws.

Now – we’re not lawyers, let’s be clear about that. But the basis in law of our answer ‘anywhere you can use a boat’ can be simply broken down into a couple of points:

• In the UK, we have a Public Right of Navigation (PRN) using a vessel in tidal water.
• Hovercraft are vessels, just like boats (Jetski’s aren’t – legally speaking)

The PRN in tidal waters an uncontested right. For sure, no cases have been found which disputed the existence of a public right of navigation on tidal waters.

For full details, take a look at our blog post –Hovercraft and your Public Right of Navigation.

Marlin II Options

1. Hovercraft Cover, protection when stored.
2. Spares Kit (5 litres oil & filter, steering & throttle cable, blades, belt, 15 skirt segments, skirt clips and ties, ‘P’ clips)

Marlin Beast Options

1. Davit (lifting) points and/or extra tie down points.
2. Craft Cover
3. Arctic (cold weather) kit
4. Coastal Kit (2x Buoyancy Aids, Flare kit, VHF, Fire Extinguisher)
5. Chrome Kit (Blades, hatches & cleats)
6. Interior deck lighting
7. Teak effect flooring
8. Metallic/fluorescent colours.
9. Spares Kit (5 litres oil & filter, steering & throttle cable, blades, belt, 15 skirt segments, skirt clips and ties, ‘P’ clips)