History of the Tangalooma Flyer

History of the Tangalooma Flyer

With the Tangalooma Flyer now operational and back in the water, having just received a whole new refurbishment as well as a slick coat of fresh paint, we thought it would be a good time to have a look back at the history of our oldest vessel.

Tangalooma Flyer's History

The Tangalooma Flyer was built specifically for Tangalooma Island Resort by Tasmanian boat builders INCAT (short for International Catamarans), way back in 1981, making it almost 40 years old. During the delivery of the vessel to Tangalooma it held the speed record from Sydney to Brisbane which stood for a number of years until high speed vessels became more common place.

Photos of the Tangalooma Flyer before it's most recent refurbishments:

The story of INCAT is one of Australia's great manufacturing success stories, as the focus on building catamarans came after the Tasman Bridge collapsed. Catamarans were used to transport Hobart residents across the Derwent River until the bridge was later rebuilt. The catamarans performed so well during this period that the builders realized there was a gap in the market for this type of vessel. The company grew from there, later building high-speed aluminum ferries for Europe, Scandinavia and South America. Small commuter vessels have also been built for tourist regions like Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip Bay.

The Tangalooma Flyer was hull number 5 off the production line by INCAT, when they started building high speed catamarans, but second in the all aluminum catamaran line. Before aluminum, INCAT built steel monohulls (traditional single hull boats) and steel catamarans (dual hull boats) that were much heavier and slower.

Photos of the Tangalooma Flyer in August 2019:

The first built hull by INCAT was the Fitzroy Flyer but unfortunately burnt down a few years ago when the boat next to it caught on fire and embers blew over. This unfortunate event makes the Tangalooma Flyer the oldest operational boat from that particular line of all aluminum INCAT vessels anywhere in the world.

We look forward to many more years of happy travels across Moreton Bay in the new-look Flyer!