Windermere Lake Cruises, which has recently joined CTA, is making a multi-million pound investment in a brand-new 300-seat boat to add to its existing fleet.
MV ‘Swift’ is expected to be in service from the mid 2020 season, making it the largest craft to be ‘launched’ on to Windermere for more than 80 years.
The new vessel has been designed to operate in all seasons, 364 days a year and will increase the quality of the visitors’ experience.
Like Windermere Lake Cruises’ existing flagship ‘steamers’ MV Swan and MV Teal, the new vessel will boast three decks but will be slightly shorter in length to enable it to access smaller jetties to help support other businesses in the area.
The first cutting of the steel took place on 9 April 2019, with construction expected to be complete in approximately 17 months.
“We are ranked by Visit England as one of the top 10 ‘paid for’ visitor attractions in the country and we are always striving to improve the visitor experience, hence the decision to invest in a new vessel,” says Windermere Lake Cruises chair Bill Bewley.
“It’s not only an opportunity to ensure our passengers continue to enjoy comfortable journeys with us but will also help visitors experience the full 10.5-mile length of the lake, its surrounding countryside and attractions.
“We also wanted to make other existing stop-off points along the lake more accessible to our passengers. ‘Swift’ has therefore been designed to easily access piers such as private jetties at hotels including Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa, which until now have been unable to accommodate our larger vessels.”
