A 12-passenger electric Seaglider wobbled, aborted its takeoff, and then flew anyway off the coast of North Kingstown on Wednesday, giving about 600 investors and prospective customers a close-up look at a vehicle REGENT hopes will reshape coastal travel. The company also showed off Squire, an unmanned drone version of the same hydrofoil-and-wing technology, during the same demonstration at Quonset Point.
Two large ferries carried roughly 600 investors, customers and others connected to the project out onto the water for the demonstration, according to WJAR. The company's 12-passenger Seaglider, named Viceroy, was attempting its fifth test flight when a tailwind of 2 to 4 knots made the vehicle unstable, according to Larry Wirsing, as reported by the station. The crew aborted that first attempt, but about 15 minutes later, they tried again, and this time Viceroy accelerated across the water, rose onto its hydrofoils and took flight.
Squire Drone Shows Off Military and Resort Appeal
Before Viceroy's two attempts, REGENT demonstrated Squire, an unmanned drone operated remotely from a nearby REGENT motorboat. Squire accelerated across the water, rose onto its hydrofoils and flew about 10 to 12 feet above the surface, the station reported. Although Squire cannot transport passengers, the underlying technology has drawn interest from the resort industry, defense companies and the military, per the same report.
That defense interest isn't new. Squire's technology can support intelligence, surveillance, search and rescue, and anti-submarine warfare missions, the company has said, according to an earlier turnto10.com report. Separately, WorkBoat has reported that REGENT continues to support both its commercial backlog and defense programs, including contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps.
Ribbon-Cutting Marks Quonset Manufacturing Push
Alongside the water demonstration, REGENT held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its facility at Quonset, which the station's report describes as 255,000 square feet. WorkBoat has also put the figure at 255,000 square feet, though the Boston Globe described the same facility as 250,000 square feet — the dossier does not resolve that discrepancy. REGENT plans to hire and train at least 250 workers and begin building Seagliders at the Quonset facility in 2027.
Billy Thalheimer addressed the audience of investors, customers and others interested in the project during the event, the report notes. REGENT says it has attracted worldwide interest and $10 billion in investments, though WorkBoat has separately described a commercial order book exceeding $10 billion with customers spanning six continents — a figure the available evidence does not clearly distinguish from the investment total.
More Testing Ahead Before Passengers Climb Aboard
Even with Wednesday's successful flight, REGENT says it has more work remaining before commercial service begins. The company plans up to 24 months of additional testing and refinement, according to the station's report. That timeline tracks with earlier reporting from Axios, which in June described REGENT as still testing its Seaglider in hydrofoil mode off Rhode Island while progressing toward a first flight with humans aboard later this year.
That milestone has since happened: a full-scale Viceroy prototype made its first crewed flight on Sept. 2 at Narragansett Bay, according to Aviation International News. Two captains held that prototype 33 feet above the water for 30 seconds during the flight, the outlet reported.
Airlines and Ferry Operators Eye Coastal Routes
Interest in the Seaglider extends well beyond Rhode Island. Japan Airlines wants to buy Seagliders for coastal passenger service, while Big Sky is interested in island-hopping trips in Indonesia, according to the Boston Globe. Closer to home, a company called The Twenty Five has described placing orders that grew from eight to 21 to 40 Seagliders, hoping to launch a membership-based service between New York City and the Hamptons in late 2027, per the same Globe report.
Axios has separately reported that The Twenty Five holds a purchase order for up to 60 Seagliders for deployment along the East Coast, with plans to begin rolling them out in 2027 across corridors including New York to the Hamptons and Boston to Nantucket. Before any of those routes can launch, REGENT is aiming to start deliveries of its Viceroy Seaglider in early 2027 once it completes an approval process with the U.S. Coast Guard, according to Aviation International News.
