The Rhode Island start-up says the US Coast Guard remains the lead certification authority for its ground-effect craft, with the FAA providing support on aviation-specific areas.
Regent Craft completed public flight demonstrations of its Viceroy and Squire wing-in-ground-effect (WIG) craft on 30 September, showing off the in-development all-electric “seagliders” as the company works to begin production in 2027.
Hundreds of investors, customers, suppliers and members of the media watched during a “demo day” as the two craft accelerated across Narragansett Bay, rose up on their hydrofoils and then took off, flying low over the water.
The company also revealed its new 23,700sq m (255,000sq ft) manufacturing facility in North Kingstown.
Squire, Regent’s in-development military drone, took off first, controlled by a remote pilot.
Viceroy, Regent’s passenger-carrying prototype, intended for commercial transport on coastal routes, then accelerated but aborted its take-off. Larry Wirsing, Regent’s vice-president of programmes, says the craft’s operators had hoped for a headwind but encountered a 2-4kt (4-7km/h) tailwind, causing them to abort.
Viceroy was then repositioned and successfully flew on its second attempt.
Though Regent calls the craft “seagliders”, they are WIGs – floating, winged vehicles that take-off from water and fly close to the surface, staying within “ground effect”, an aerodynamic regime characterised by increased lift and reduced drag.
The demonstrations are the latest in a series of tests conducted by Regent since Viceroy was damaged during hydrofoil stress testing in Narragansett Bay in October 2025.
Wirsing says the incident occurred as Regent was testing Viceroy at progressively faster speeds. “We encountered an instability, and there was some biomechanical coupling with the operator that then caused us to have an outrigger strike on the water and damage the wing,” he says.
Those outriggers are like sponson floats and are intended to provide stability.
The accident prompted Regent to make upgrades to the hydrofoil design and its controller implementation and topology, allowing the craft to return to the water in March 2026. Since then, Wirsing says “the controls test programme [has] progressed really well” and the hydrofoil issues are “in the rearview mirror and well behind us now”.
Using hydrofoils is central to Regent’s seaglider concept. According to Wirsing, the seaglider’s ability to “take the hull… out of the water and cut through wake” gives the craft “the ability to operate in higher sea states than a seaplane.”
Wirsing describes Regent’s design as “the largest, most-complex hydrofoiling system that has ever been created”.
Regent sees the seaglider’s electric propulsion system, which allows for quieter operation, as providing an advantage over seaplanes, particularly in congested areas and urban centres, where Wirsing says seaplanes are sometimes banned because “they’re considered a nuisance”. The company says electric propulsion could similarly provide cost and sustainability advantages over high-speed ferries.
Projects like Regent’s have raised questions over the years about how new-development WIGs will be regulated in the USA, particularly the extent to which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will be involved in the approval process. How that process will play out remains to be seen.
“The FAA is working collaboratively with the United States Coast Guard by providing technical support,” the FAA tells FlightGlobal.
Developers of the craft have insisted that the US Coast Guard (USCG) is their primary regulator, citing international standards and provisions in US law.
According to Wirsing, “The Coast Guard is the regulatory authority for certification of the seagliders”.
He notes that all operations completed during “demo day” were conducted under a Coast Guard certificate of inspection (COI), rather than an FAA experimental certificate.
However, Wirsing says the FAA will still be involved to some extent.
“The FAA and the Coast Guard are collaborating on the regulatory approval process and the certification for the seaglider… so there is a partnership element there,” Wirsing says. “We expect that the Coast Guard would tap into the FAA for areas [that are] more aviation-centric and for which the Coast Guard doesn’t have expertise… like approving wing designs.”
“We do talk actively with both the FAA and the Coast Guard, but our expectation is that domestically the Coast Guard will certify the seagliders, and then internationally, an organisation like Lloyd’s Register would be the international regulator,” he says.
Viceroy “captains,” as Regent calls them, will only be required to be licensed as Coast Guard mariners.
“They’ll be maritime captains as opposed to FAA pilots,” says Wirsing. “There’s no FAA pilot requirement.”
Regent’s maritime focus even extends to the design of the seagliders’ operating controls.
“We’re designing the cockpit functionality to be very similar to how a vessel operates on the water, where you turn the stick left and right, you adjust the throttle quadrant, and you go faster or slower,” Wirsing says. “It really is going to be that simple”.
He adds that Regent will automate transitions between the design’s three operation modes: floating on its hull, running on its hydrofoils (with its hull out of the water) and flight.
Regent plans to continue testing Squire and Viceroy on Narragansett Bay for the next 12-24 months, while also training and preparing its manufacturing team for production.
Wirsing says the Squire production line will be active by around this time next year and Regent is “planning for at least 50 deliveries in 2027”. He adds that Squire will continue to participate in military exercises and perhaps even be used operationally outside the US.
Regent sees various military missions for Squire, including surveillance, logistics support, search and rescue, and anti-submarine warfare. Powered by 12 wing-mounted propellers, the craft has a 5.5m (18ft) wingspan and measures 4m long. It has 100nm (185km) of range, can fly 70kt and can carry 50lb of payload, Regent says.
Also on 30 September, Regent announced it expanded its collaboration with the US Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to include an additional $5 million in funding, bringing the total value of the agreement to $19.3 million.
For Viceroy, Wirsing tells FlightGlobal that Regent plans to begin final assembly of the first units in the fourth quarter of 2027, with deliveries to customers coming shortly after.
Viceroy also has 12 wing-mounted propellers. Piloted by two captains, it will carry 12 passengers, have 160nm (296km) of range and cruise at 160kt, Regent says.
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