In 2002, Navatek developed an inexpensive, high-speed, low-wake, partial hydrofoil design called WAVERIDER ®. The WAVERIDER features a deep-vee parent hull form hybridized with a single, titanium “Pi” foil forward and an interceptor ride control system aft.
The 85-foot WAVERIDER prototype was launched in late 2002, demonstrating a superior ride in seas through sea state 4 (6-8 feet). The measured wake wash of WAVERIDER was significantly better than the Washington State Ferry standard as measured in wave energy density (joules/meter), making WAVERIDER an option for any fast ferry route constrained by wake wash restrictions. Following successful sea trials, the 43-knot, 149-passenger vessel was leased in 2003 as a demonstrator commuter ferry in California, running between Oceanside and San Diego. In 2004 it entered charter ferry service in the Caribbean. In 2005 it was returned to California to demonstrate ferry service to Catalina Island. Navatek currently operates the vessel as a technology demonstrator craft.
