Aquavion 10p Hydrofoil - Darwin Hostess

Greetings forum,

As suggested by the moderator of this forum, I am writing this as an addition to my reply to a 19 year-old thread requesting information about a very specific boat of this type.

The Aquavion 10p Hydrofoil (also known as the "Aquavit" and, in some sources, "8p" instead of "10p") was produced in the 60's under a Dutch company's design, though some sources state they were actually built in London.

In 1965, 4 examples of this boat were imported to Australia by a Sydney firm named Macdonald Hamilton. Attached to this post is a full-page Sydney newspaper spread from 1965 regarding these hydrofoils. The tone of the article seems to suggest hydrofoils are "the future". I guess much like we were supposed to have flying cars by 2015 according to a certain time-travel movie.

Also attached is what seems to be a marketing document from Aquavion, but contains a lot of specifics about the boats.

My own interest in this type of boat is related to a specific boat named "Darwin Hostess" (picture attached).

Darwin Hostess was operated by Darwin Harbour Ferries in the Northern Territory, Australia no earlier than 1975, and probably ending in the early 80's (if not sooner). The company had been hit hard by Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Day 1974, losing both of the (uninsured) boats they owned at the time (Edwina May and Darwin Princess) and, more tragically, Raymond John Curtain - the son of the owner William Maxwell Curtain - who was trying to evacuate Darwin Princess from the harbour whilst also towing a schooner with 5 people on board. All six were lost and the wrecks only discovered in 2003.

Darwin Hostess was introduced in a (failed) attempt to rebuild the company, along with two fiberglass ferries named Darwin Contessa (later Southern Contessa - still exists - now moored in a state of disrepair in Huonville, Tasmania) and Darwin Duchess (scrapped 2019). The only question is the fate of Darwin Hostess.

The last suspected whereabouts of the boat were in 1983, when the son of one of Max's business partners remembers visiting Max's 5-acre property in Dandenong, Victoria, and recalls much talk of what to do with the hydrofoil in the garage. Max would lose this property around 1987 with his bankruptcy. Everything that could be sold off was sold off by the Sherriff to repay his debts, and the fate of Darwin Hostess is unknown.

This is an open invitation to discuss the Aquavion boats in general. I would like to learn more about them. But if you know someone in Australia who owns one of these boats, please let me know!!

If anyone is interested in knowing more about Darwin Harbour Ferries, I have also attached Part II of my historical research in to an abandoned shipwreck here in Victoria, which covers the Darwin Harbour Ferries story in much more detail than I can on this forum without digressing too much from the point of this post!

Thanks, forum.

 

110 HP with a consumption of 3 gallons/hr is not realistic; particularly for those old engines.