Seeing double. Two Victoria of Wights cross the Solent

Wightlink’s hybrid flagship Victoria of Wight has welcomed a smaller version on board.

Ryde modelmaker Martin Stock has spent the last nine months building a detailed model of the Portsmouth-Fishbourne car ferry that joined Wightlink’s fleet in 2018. He has used more than 15,000 bricks and tiles to recreate the ship together with her interior lounges and car decks after poring over photographs and online resources.

Wightlink’s Island Port Operations Manager Martin Gulliver says: “We were impressed with the accuracy of Martin’s model. You can see the Captain on the Bridge, customers sitting in the lounges and even the lane marking on the car decks. We were pleased that Martin allowed us to bring it onboard to delight our customers.”

Martin accompanied his model on a round-trip from Fishbourne last weekend. “Everyone made me feel very welcome onboard and I thoroughly enjoyed my time mingling with fellow Lego fans.

“As this was the first time I had travelled on Victoria of Wight, I was interested to see how the real thing matched up to my vision of the ship. My version of the children’s play area wasn’t quite right but the rest was pretty good.”

The model is 160 cm long and 40cm wide. The real Victoria of Wight is 8,933 cm long and 1,941cm wide.

Martin’s ship has been on display at this summer’s Ryde URC Horticultural Show. Last year he built a model of Wightlink’s St Clare ferry then dismantled it to build Victoria of Wight.

Picture caption: Lego modeller Martin Stock with Victoria of Wight Chief Officer Elmer Sugabo on board Victoria of Wight, with Victoria of Wight

For more information, contact Karen Woods 07775 694266 [email protected]