Hobart-based shipbuilding manufacturer Incat Tasmania will celebrate 20 years of continuous service since Incat-built fast ships have held the record for the fastest Transatlantic Crossing on 23 June 2010.
On 23 June 1990 Hoverspeed Great Britain, a ship built by Incat in Tasmania, for operation between England and France by Sea Containers Ltd, broke the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by a commercial passenger ship, Incat says.
The crossing from Ambrose Light at New York commenced at 7.30pm on June 19, 1990 ending her 2922 mile trip at Bishop Rock in the UK on the morning of 23 June.
The Hales Trophy is awarded to "The Ship which shall for the time being, have crossed the Atlantic Ocean at the highest average speed.”
The previous record had been held for 38 years by the SS United States (1952 - 1990), prior to the SS United Stateswin, the great liners vied for the honour to fly the Blue Riband.
The Incat-built high-speed catamaran Hoverspeed Great Britain, which broke the record winning the Hales Trophy on 23 June 1990, held the record and the owners held the Trophy, until 1998 when another Incat built ship Catalonia took the record in June 1998, then just a month later in July 1998 yet another ship built by Incat, CatLink V broke the record.
It was the first time in the history of the transatlantic records (dating back to the 1860s) that three ships to win the trophy in succession had been built by the same shipyard.
The Hales Trophy is a heavily gilded ornate trophy over one metre in height and is on display in the offices of the Incat shipyard in Hobart.