A new ferry service is launching between the UK and France next month on a high-performance catamaran.<\/p>\n
SailLink, which operates the first sailing ferry between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer<\/a>, announced it was launching a trial channel crossing between two new French and British destinations.<\/p>\n Running for six days in September, the pilot phase will ferry 12 passengers per crossing using wind power between Shoreham in West Sussex<\/a> and F\u00e9camp in Normandy on eight-hour crossings.<\/p>\n If the results of the test are positive, SailLink said it would explore options with the ports to bring a second regular cross-Channel sailing service into operation as soon as possible.<\/p>\n The series of crossings can be booked on SailLink between 8 and 13 September at \u00a3220 per crossing (\u00a3440 return) with the option to bring bikes on board from \u00a310.<\/p>\n Passengers will be aboard the 18-metre Mer Agit\u00e9e catamaran, built from reused ocean-racing parts, with storage inside for up to eight bikes.<\/p>\n For avid cyclists and bikepackers, the new connection will link rides on England’s National Cycle Route 2<\/a> with France’s La V\u00e9lomaritime (EuroVelo 4)<\/a> and the GR21 coastal path<\/a>.<\/p>\n There is also a range of onward connections in both destinations. Gatwick airport is only a 40-minute train journey from Shoreham, where the sailing departs from.<\/p>\n F\u00e9camp, meanwhile, is the home port of the sail-powered cargo company New Towt, which operates transatlantic routes to North and South America and has recently begun offering passenger spaces on its boats.<\/p>\n Passport control is carried out at the pontoon in both ports, the same process as on the Dover to Boulogne service.<\/p>\n Andrew Simons, founder and skipper, SailLink, said: “We started SailLink to prove that a wind-powered ferry could be a real, scheduled crossing, not a stunt.<\/p>\n “Taking that idea to a new coast, with a boat and a skipper like this, tells us the demand is there and the model travels. September is a test, and we will learn a lot from it.”<\/p>\n