Transport: Just Above Water

First hydrofoil craft to enter regular commuter service in the U.S. is the good ship Albatross, which last week made her maiden voyage on the Port Washington, L.I.-Wall Streen run. Departure time: 8:20 a.m. She was laden with suburban-dwelling executives, plus a tape recorder, individual transistor radios, an electric shaver, ship-to-shore telephone, champagne and high hopes. But on the planned 50-minute trip from Club Capri Marina to lower Manhatten, virtually nothing went right.

Except the Albatross. Her extruded aluminum foils lifted the hull several feet above the waves, her speed crept up to 32 m.p.h., and she went winging across the surface of Long Island Sound like the hydrodynamic sea bird she is. Then—shades of the Ancient Mariner!—the debut was dampened by another hard-luck story. Off Hewlett Point lay a disabled cabin cruiser with smoke pouring from its engine compartment. t was the Bobbilee II, owned by Investment Banker Robert Lehman, and aboard as Lehman’s guests were Movie Mogul Samuel Goldwyn and his wife.

Drip-Dry Adventure. “I’ve made pictures with less excitement in them,” huffed Goldwyn. “There we were in the middle of the ocean trying to stop boats. My wife was very disturbed. I was wondering how I was going to swim ashore. Finally, this odd-looking boat came along—something new. It swung around and picked us up. Later on, the fellow who picked us up fell in the water.”

Hero of Goldwyn’s sea saga was Albatross Owner Ira E. Dowd, president of American Hydrofoil Lines. During a subsequent stop in the East River, flagged down by a Coast Guard patrol boat, Dowd clambered topside to report details of the rescue, lost his footing and slipped overboard. It was 9:55 a.m. when the Albatross spewed her tardy commuters into Wall Street, 45 minutes late. All declared themselves staunchly in favor of hydrofoil commuting, though it takes nearly as long and costs approximately three times more ($100 a month) than commuting from Port Washington via the overland route on the Long Island Rail Road. Three days afterward, however, the heroic Albatross was late again, when her engine conked out for ten minutes.

Outside the U.S., hydrofoils have been carrying passengers on regularly scheduled runs for nearly ten years. By lifting the hull out of the water, the hydrofoils reduce water resistance enormously, permit speeds of up to 90 m.p.h. Japan has a fleet of them. Italy (where the first known hydrofoil was invented some 60 years ago by Enrico Forlanini) has ferry service across the Strait of Messina, also on the Gulf of Naples and Lago di Garda. Hydrofoils are fairly common in the Soviet Union. Others skim along the Riviera and between several islands of the Aegean. Three hydrofoils ferry tourists on the Nile between Aswan and Abu Simbel.

Some Foiled Plots. But for some reason, hydrofoil development has lagged in the U.S. In 1960, the Maritime Administration ordered a $5,000,000 hydrofoil from Grumman Aircraft, intended for a high-speed ferry run between Miami and the Bahamas. But the handsome 100-ft. boat has never gone into service. “There are no ‘bugs,’ ” insists a Grumman spokesman. “We just need the right type of financing.” One abortive attempt was made to run an Italian-built vessel between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, but the boat proved unfit for the open-sea route. Still at the blueprint stage is a hydrofoil ferry connecting Seattle and Vancouver. In addition, the Navy has two in operation, which are being tested for possible use in antisubmarine warfare.

Now Hydrofoiler Dowd is making big plans to get the boats above water. By next April, his company hopes to have 35 new commuter specials splashing out of Long Island, Westchester and New Jersey ports at monthly fares more nearly competitive with those of the railroads. Another Manhattan firm, Commutaboat, is equally aflutter about the future. Its plans include a mosquito fleet of hydrofoils, buzzing from Manhattan to Flushing Meadows, in time for the 1964 World’s Fair.