At its shortest point, the crossing between England and France is just 21 miles between Dover and Cap Gris Nez, a cape near Calais. A short distance that has been amplified by two years of pandemic and further constrained by the increased bureaucracy imposed since Brexit.
The result is that it can sometimes feel much more than the 20 or so miles. Particularly for foot passengers, who have traditionally been under-catered for—or those with bikes or wheelchairs., SailLink, funded through a mixture of Crowdfunding and the Blue Living Lab in Boulogne-sur-Mer, is confident that it can start offering an eco-friendly alternative to existing ferries and planes—and begin running return trips for passengers by 2023.
SailLink plans to operate between Dover and Boulogne-sur-Mer first but will then hopefully expand to two other routes. In 2024, between Dunkirk and Ramsgate and in 2025, the longer route between Newhaven and Dieppe. The pilot phase is using a 12-metre boat that can accommodate six passengers and two bikes but the hope is for a larger boat that can take 12 passengers with 12 bikes at a time, plus two wheelchairs.recharged by onboard solar panels. SailLink's founder, Andrew Simons, toldthat"while we will mainly rely on wind power, we will have to use mechanical propulsion when the wind drops and to get in and out of ports.