Location

MV Viking is available to charter in the Solent; an area of water separating the Isle of Wight from mainland England. With up to 25 local ports and anchorages within easy distance and with excellent communication routes to and from London, these waters offer the best conditions for corporate charters.

Based in Cowes, MV Viking is ideally located for Race Viewing at the major regattas, such as Cowes Week or the Commodores Cup, however, if you simply want a fantastic day out cruising the Solent provides plenty of interesting places to visit; in the far Eastern Solent four forts, originally built in the 1800s to protect Portsmouth from invasion, stand proud. Further inwards, on the Island shore are Bembridge Bay and Osborne Bay (the private beach of Queen Victoria’s former country home, Osborne House) both of which offer fabulous anchorages.

To the West, past the Beaulieu River, and beyond Lymington are two great landmarks of note. Historic Hurst Castle was built by Henry VIII in the 1500s to defend the western approach to the Solent. Situated at the seaward end of a shingle spit that extends 1.5 miles from Milford-On-Sea on the Mainland shore, the castle was also where Charles I was imprisoned before his execution in 1648. The second major landmark in the Western Solent are the Needles – which form a narrow chalky peninsula rising from jagged rocks to 120m cliffs. These rocks have always been a hazard to ships making their way up the Solent to Portsmouth and Southampton Water, and consequently a lighthouse has been sited on the far end of the peninsular since 1785.