FROM TOP: The Viceroy Seaglider is still in testing and expected to fly this fall; Tom Huntley, vice president of government relations and general manager of REGENT Defense, with the Squire quarter-scale prototype. on Fridays. Employees wear khakis or jeans and T-shirts, and dogs join their owners for strolls around the office. Interns— selected from 3,500 applicants— work studiously at desks shadowed by a full-scale model of Viceroy, the company’ s twelve-passenger Seaglider that’ s currently in sea trials on Narragansett Bay. 1960s-era airline advertisements line the walls, with a newer version featuring a Seaglider atop a glistening Narragansett Bay.“ Travel to Rhode Island by seaglider,” it reads.
In the conference room, framed wall hangings show the company’ s target markets. In addition to Hawaii and New England, REGENT is marketing the Seaglider as an alternative travel mode in coastal Florida and the Bahamas, the Mediterranean, New Zealand, Japan, the Philippines and the Arabian Gulf.
Aside from having no emissions and a longer range than eVTOLs, Thalheimer and Klinker say their Seaglider is easier and less expensive to maintain than a helicopter or small aircraft. Because it flies above the water, it’ s less impacted by sea conditions than a ferry, and its twelve electric motors can be easily switched out for replacement or repair. With about seven Teslas’ worth of battery storage, a forty-five-minute charge fuels the Viceroy model up for a maximum trip length of 180 miles.
“ It is faster, it is cheaper, it is greener, it is more reliable, and it’ s more comfortable,” Thalheimer says.
Ed Wegel, the founder and chairman of UrbanLink, is among those counting on the Seaglider to revolutionize transportation. His two-year-old company plans to start all-electric routes across south Florida, beginning with a seventymile route from Miami to Palm Beach. In addition to a fleet of eVTOLs manufactured in Vermont, he’ s expecting his first delivery of Seagliders in 2027.
“ The world is moving toward, and particularly the airline industry and the aviation industry is moving toward, zero emissions,” he says.“ We saw this as being on the forefront of that.”
A thirty-five-minute Seaglider ride, he
says, would cut driving time between the two cities by approximately two hours and cost around $ 50 one-way. The company also plans to expand service to the Bahamas, and offer connections to nearby airports.
Rhode Island may see its own Seaglider routes. David Neeleman, the businessman behind several low-cost airlines— including, most recently, Breeze Airways, which operates a base at Rhode Island T. F. Green International Airport— says he’ s in discussions with REGENT about Breeze operating Seaglider routes out of the state. He describes the venture, which could include routes to New York City and Long Island as well as locations off the coast, as a low-cost alternative to short-haul flights. Neeleman also serves on REGENT’ s advisory board.
“ This is really a game changer,” he says.“ It would be less expensive for sure than flying on a major airline. And we’ ll be able to fly you right to downtown Manhattan.”
The technology has limits, however. Despite assurances from REGENT, a frequent concern raised in transportation circles and online commentary is the craft’ s ability to navigate rough sea conditions. The Seaglider cannot operate when ice accumulates on the wings, which limits its use seasonally in many locations. Thalheimer says the company is working on a deicing capability to expand its range.
One entity that has invested significant funds in bringing the technology up to speed is the United States government. In 2023, the company announced it had secured a $ 4.75 million contract with the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab to demonstrate the Seaglider’ s application for defense uses and develop a prototype. That contract was extended this past March with $ 10 million in additional funds. According to Tom Huntley, REGENT’ s vice president of government relations and general manager of REGENT Defense, those uses could include moving people and cargo in contested areas; search and rescue, medevac and casevac missions; and intelligence,
106 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I OCTOBER 2025