Hovercraft
sport

Small commercially manufactured, kit or plan-built hovercraft are increasingly being used for recreational purposes, such as inland racing and cruising on inland lakes and rivers, marshy areas, estuaries and inshore coastal waters.

The Hovercraft Cruising Club supports the use of hovercraft for cruising in coastal and inland waterways, lakes and lochs.

The Hovercraft Club of Great Britain, founded in 1966, regularly organizes inland and coastal hovercraft race events at various venues across the United Kingdom. Similar events are also held in Europe and the US.

In August 2010, the Hovercraft Club of Great Britain hosted the World Hovercraft Championships at Towcester Racecourse, followed by the 2016 World Hovercraft Championships at the West Midlands Water Ski Centre in Tamworth.

The World Hovercraft Championships are run under the auspices of the World Hovercraft Federation. So far the World Hovercraft Championships had been hosted by France: 1993 in Verneuil, 1997 in Lucon, 2006 at the Lac de Tolerme; Germany: 1987 in Bad Karlshafen, 2004 in Berlin, 2012 and 2018 in Saalburg; Portugal: 1995 in Peso de la Regua; Sweden: 2008 and 2022 at Flottbro Ski Centre in Huddinge; UK 1991 and 2000 at Weston Parc; US: 1989 in Troy (Ohio), 2002 in Terre Haute. The 2020 World Hovercraft Championships had to be postponed to 2022 due to restriction caused by the Covid-19 outbreak.

Apart from the craft designed as "racing hovercraft", which are often only suitable for racing, there is another form of small personal hovercraft for leisure use, often referred to as cruising hovercraft, capable of carrying up to four people. Just like their full size counterparts, the ability of these small personal hovercraft to safely cross all types of terrain, (e.g. water, sandbanks, swamps, ice, etc.) and reach places often inaccessible by any other type of craft, makes them suitable for a number of roles, such as survey work and patrol and rescue duties in addition to personal leisure use. Increasingly, these craft are being used as yacht tenders, enabling yacht owners and guests to travel from a waiting yacht to, for example, a secluded beach. In this role, small hovercraft can offer a more entertaining alternative to the usual small boat and can be a rival for the jet-ski. The excitement of a personal hovercraft can now be enjoyed at "experience days", which are popular with families, friends and those in business, who often see them as team building exercises. This level of interest has naturally led to a hovercraft rental sector and numerous manufacturers of small, ready built designs of personal hovercraft to serve the need.
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