Rapide is sold to ferry firm in Spain

The 24-year-old wavepiercing catamaran has been sold and will start a new life with Trasmapi, which offers services between mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands.

She has been replaced by the Condor Voyager, a rebranded Brittany Ferries craft, which started operating last month.

The vessel is based in St Malo and will be operating to Jersey, Guernsey and the UK this summer.

Condor operations director Elwyn Dop said it had a rolling fleet replacement programme.

‘After many years of good service it was time to replace her, so the much larger Voyager will significantly increase capacity on our key routes – and this change demonstrates our commitment to the islands,’ he said.

As border and quarantine restrictions continue to ease, Condor’s high speed fleet – comprising Voyager and Condor Liberation – is now operating direct services to the UK from Guernsey and Jersey up to five days per week, boosting car and seat capacity by 40% in comparison with previous years.

Mr Dop confirmed that the lease of Voyager from Brittany Ferries provides an opportunity for Condor to fully evaluate the vessel. He was certain she would be a welcome addition to the fleet.

This follows the company having negative feedback from customers when the Liberation was first introduced.

‘We wanted to take the opportunity while it was available,’ he said.

‘The ship is very smooth and quiet with large, light, open spaces and offers a significantly greater passenger and vehicle capacity than our other high speed craft. Her top speed is also higher and will reduce crossing times.

‘With any change of vessel, there are things to learn about and improve and we will be looking at various options and modifications in the future, but we view her introduction as a positive step for ourselves and the islands.’

The Rapide was sailing from Poole to Vigo in north-west Spain yesterday.