HSC FastCat Ryde is a high speed catamaran

Catamaran

A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...

 ferry which operates between the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 and mainland England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The vessel was originally built in Singapore for service in the Philippines as Water Jet 1. She was bought by Wightlink

Wightlink

Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.Their core routes are car ferries from Lymington to Yarmouth and Portsmouth to Fishbourne...

 in 2000 and following an extensive refit entered service on the Ryde Pier

Ryde Pier

Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England.- Before the pier :Before the pier was built, passengers to Ryde had the uncomfortable experience of coming ashore on the back of a porter and then, depending on the state of the...

 to Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 route since August 2000 along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Shanklin

HSC FastCat Shanklin

HSC FastCat Shanklin is a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route from 2000 to 2009 along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Ryde. Prior to working for Wightlink, the ship worked in Singapore...

.

From early Autumn 2009, Wightlink took delivery of two new vessels to operate the route, Wight Ryder I

HSC Wight Ryder I

HSC Wight Ryder I is the first of Wightlink's new purpose built high-speed passenger catamarans to operate the Ryde to Portsmouth ferry route. It was introduced along with sister ship HSC Wight Ryder II. Both vessels left their construction site in the Philippines in June 2009, and began service in...

 and Wight Ryder II.