SRN4 Hovercraft Princess Anne arriving then departing Dover 2000

Enhanced and edited footage from a home movie I shot in 2000 titled "Escape From Thanet". In this sequence, James Hall and myself (along with James` Ex) have arrived at Dover to watch some ferries. We were lucky enough to catch the SRN4's Princess Anne and Margaret during the afternoon. Here we see GH2007 Princess Anne sweep into port, then depart the pad for Calais. Several months after this was shot Hoverspeed pulled the N4`s from service in favor of the 'cats. GRRRRRRRRRRRR. The Princess Anne Footage will follow soon. Editing is underway on Escape From Thanet 5 (trailer elsewhere on here), but is slow going lol. This footage has been audio and visually enhanced from original 8mm camcorder footage and converted ifrom 4:3 nto 16:9 aspect image. If only I had a camcorder 10 or 15 years earlier - or a camera for that matter!!!! The English channel is no longer quite as vibrant now these two queens of the sea have been retired! They were transferred to The Hovercraft Museum in Lee-on-Solent after being pulled from duty. Truly an end of an era...... Hope you enjoy........

[@soularddave2]

This is the same craft that I arrived on when I visited Great Britain in 1971. Yes, sad they're gone, like steam locomotives. I miss them and can no longer share the experience with others.

[@whitehallfilms]

Well how lush is this? Thanks to a thunderstorm rumbling around the clifftops where we originally planned to film we relocated here on the off-chance that these craft were still running. And unleashed a MONSTER! Sadly, time for these craft was running out...

[@Tuberuser187]

Shame they are gone but the newer catamarans are a piece of technology in their own right, made of ultra lightweight materials (in the future entirely composite hulls are planned) and use turbine engines just like these grand old ladies.

[@IAmSoMuchBetterThanYou]

Apparently this hovercraft or its sister ship are to be dismantled and sold for scrap to pay for taxes.
I traveled on this hovercraft as a kid. I still marvel (I'm a simpleton) at the transition from sea to land. Sadly the hovercraft is about the least energy-efficient vessel on the planet, but it's a masterpiece of human ingenuity

[@JakeRoot]

That is just awesome! It seems mad that it just drove up on land to deliver its load...it just sort of "well here I am, get the f**k outta my way!".