MV Swift celebrates 5th birthday

This October it’s celebration time for Windermere Lake Cruises flagship vessel MV Swift as she reaches a milestone 5th birthday on Saturday 25^th October 2025.

Since carrying her first passengers MV Swift has gone on to become one of the most popular vessels in Windermere Lake Cruises fleet. Milestones in her relatively short lifespan include:

• Carrying 901,000 passengers

• Traversing 61,300 nautical miles

At the launch in 2020, 300-seater, MV Swift made history in being the biggest boat to be launched onto England’s longest lake in 80 years – a record it maintains today.

MV Swift’s inaugural journey departed from Lakeside pier at 10.15am on Sunday 25^th October 2020 with passengers travelling the full length of Windermere, pausing briefly in Bowness, before reaching its destination in Ambleside.

To mark its anniversary, MV Swift will be travelling between Bowness and Ambleside, departing Bowness at 09.50 on the outbound journey. Joining MV Swift on the anniversary cruise will be one of Cumbria’s other biggest brands, Grasmere Gingerbread®. Rosie Danagher, Tourism Marketing and Heritage Manager, will be dressed in traditional Victorian costume and handing out complimentary pieces of the spicy-sweet treat to passengers between Bowness and Ambleside (Rosie will be joining the cruise at 09.50 in Bowness and departing in Bowness at 11.05).

Chairman of Windermere Lake Cruises, Bill Bewley says, “This anniversary is finally a time to shine a light on the incredible engineering that is MV Swift. When she initially launched in 2020 we didn’t have the opportunity to create much excitement around the inaugural sailing, however this time we will be able to welcome the full capacity of passengers, along with sharing some goodies as we celebrate her time on the water.”

Rosie Danagher from Grasmere Gingerbread® said: “I’m delighted to be invited to join Swift’s 5^th birthday celebrations. Windermere Lake Cruises and Grasmere Gingerbread® both have a history dating back to the mid 1800’s so there is much synergy between the two companies, being stalwarts of the history, heritage and culture of Cumbria. To help celebrate, we baked a giant letter ‘5’ in Grasmere Gingerbread® and I’m really looking forward to meeting the passengers on the birthday cruise.”

MV Swift was built at Lakeside by Damen Shipyards Gorinchem BV and inspected and surveyed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who granted the boat’s Passenger Certificate. The vessel was formerly handed over to Winander Leisure Limited before carrying her first passengers and remains in regular service today.

To purchase tickets for the anniversary sailing visit www.wlc.co.uk.