REGENT Opens 255,000sq ft Seaglider Factory as Maritime Mobility Moves Toward Production

REGENT Craft has opened what it describes as the world’s first dedicated Seaglider manufacturing facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The 255,000-square-foot site becomes the production hub for the Viceroy passenger craft and Squire drone, less than a month after the Viceroy prototype completed its first crewed ground-effect flight.

The programme has moved from demonstration into industrialisation

REGENT opened the factory at an event attended by more than 600 government, defence and business guests, with live demonstrations of the Viceroy prototype and Squire Seaglider drone. The company says the facility marks the formal start of manufacturing operations.

That transition is significant for marine technology because prototypes can prove a concept without proving that it can be built repeatedly, maintained and certified at scale. A dedicated production plant forces the company to address manufacturing discipline alongside aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performance.

The Rhode Island site is designed for phased production growth

The factory covers 255,000 square feet at Quonset Business Park and is intended to support increasing production volumes over time. REGENT says first Viceroy customer deliveries could begin as early as late 2027, subject to the programme’s remaining development and certification work.

The layout is designed to scale without compromising safety or certification requirements. That point matters because a new category of craft has to establish not only technical performance but also repeatable quality systems that regulators, commercial operators and insurers can understand.

Viceroy and Squire target different maritime missions

REGENT is developing the crewed Viceroy alongside the smaller Squire drone, giving the factory both commercial and defence production roles. The company says demand now spans six continents, while its defence activity includes contracts with the U.S. Marine Corps.

For the wider yacht and marina sector, the technology is relevant because high-speed coastal transport could eventually change how guests, crew and supplies move between airports, islands, marinas and remote destinations. Any such use would depend on infrastructure, regulation and operating economics.

The technology sits between vessel and aircraft design

Seagliders operate as hydrofoiling wing-in-ground-effect craft, using the water for low-speed operation before flying close to the surface in ground effect. That hybrid operating profile places them in a developing area of maritime transport rather than conventional aviation or displacement shipping.

Superyacht operators are unlikely to replace tenders with this technology in the near term, but the production milestone is worth watching. Coastal mobility systems that combine electric propulsion, speed and water-based infrastructure could become increasingly relevant to destination access around large-yacht cruising hubs.

Official sources: www.regentcraft.com.