Hydrus (roller coaster)

Hydrus
	Hydrus at night
Casino Pier
Location	Casino Pier
Coordinates	39.942784°N 74.072083°W
Status	Operating
Soft opening date	May 6, 2017
Opening date	May 26, 2017
Replaced	Star Jet
General statistics
Type	Steel – Euro-Fighter
Manufacturer	Gerstlauer
Designer	Werner Stengel
Model	320
Height	72 ft (22 m)
Drop	70 ft (21 m)
Length	1,050 ft (320 m)
Speed	45 mph (72 km/h)
Inversions	3
Max vertical angle	97°
Trains	2 trains with a single car. Riders are arranged 4 across in 2 rows for a total of 8 riders per train.
	Hydrus at RCDB; Pictures of Hydrus at RCDB

Hydrus is a steel roller coaster at Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. Opened in 2017, it was the sixth Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter roller coaster to open in the United States[1] and the first Euro-Fighter 320 model in the world.[2] It replaced Star Jet, which was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

History

After the Star Jet roller coaster was destroyed (along with a large portion of the Casino Pier) during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, it took almost three years until permission was granted to rebuild; this permission to rebuild included a new roller coaster.[3] After swapping land with the city,[4] however, it was decided that this new coaster would not be built on the pier over the water (as the 1970 Jet Star and the 2002 Star Jet had been), but it would instead be built over the beach to prevent a repeat of what had happened with the hurricane.[5]

In late 2016, it was announced that the roller coaster replacing Star Jet would be a Euro-Fighter manufactured by Gerstlauer. The coaster was named Hydrus and opened in May 2017. New Jersey governor Chris Christie was present for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 26[4] which occurred several weeks after a soft opening of the ride.[6][7]

Layout and theme

Hydrus has the characteristic steeper-than-vertical (97 degree) drop of all Euro-Fighter coasters. The coaster (a Euro-Fighter 320) is similar to 320+ model Euro-Fighters, but it eliminates the final helix at the end.[8] Elements include a loop, cutback, and heartline roll.[6] There are two eight-person cars, each with lap-bar restraints.[9] The owners of Casino Pier have said that the name Hydrus references the constellation of the same name, and the "Jet Star" and later "Star Jet" names of the previous Casino Pier coasters.[4]

Reception

The coaster has been included in rankings of top 2017 coasters from CNN and USA Today.[10][11]

References

Marden, Duane. "List of Euro-Fighter roller coasters". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Marden, Duane. "List of List of Euro-Fighter model 320 roller coasters". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Bases, Daniel (August 17, 2015). "New Jersey OKs permit to rebuild storm-hit amusement park". Reuters. New York. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Corasaniti, Nick (May 26, 2017). "A Shiny New Ride Above the Sand at the Jersey Shore". New York Times. Seaside Heights, NJ. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Goldgeier, Kathy (May 26, 2017). "Brand New Coaster Replaces One Tossed Into The Waves By Superstorm Sandy". NPR. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Marden, Duane. "Hydrus (Casino Pier)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Mikle, Jean (May 5, 2017). "New Casino Pier rollercoaster to open Saturday". Asbury Park Press. Seaside Heights, NJ. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Marden, Duane. "Euro-Fighter 320+". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Nee, Daniel (February 7, 2017). "New Casino Pier Roller Coaster Will be Known as 'HYDRUS'". Lavallette-Seaside & Ortley Beach Shorebeat. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
Hetter, Katia (May 26, 2017). "A roller coaster fanatic's 10 picks for 2017". CNN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
Levine, Arthur (February 14, 2017). "The nine most anticipated new roller coasters of 2017". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

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[RCDB_Euro-Fighter_list-1] Marden, Duane. "List of Euro-Fighter roller coasters". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[RCDB_list_320-2] Marden, Duane. "List of List of Euro-Fighter model 320 roller coasters". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[Reuters_rebuild-3] Bases, Daniel (August 17, 2015). "New Jersey OKs permit to rebuild storm-hit amusement park". Reuters. New York. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[NY_Times_new_ride-4] Corasaniti, Nick (May 26, 2017). "A Shiny New Ride Above the Sand at the Jersey Shore". New York Times. Seaside Heights, NJ. Archived from the original on May 31, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[NPR-5] Goldgeier, Kathy (May 26, 2017). "Brand New Coaster Replaces One Tossed Into The Waves By Superstorm Sandy". NPR. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[RCDB_Hydrus-6] Marden, Duane. "Hydrus (Casino Pier)". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[Asbury_Park_Press_opening-7] Mikle, Jean (May 5, 2017). "New Casino Pier rollercoaster to open Saturday". Asbury Park Press. Seaside Heights, NJ. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[RCDB_320+-8] Marden, Duane. "Euro-Fighter 320+". Roller Coaster DataBase. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[Shorebeat_Hydrus-9] Nee, Daniel (February 7, 2017). "New Casino Pier Roller Coaster Will be Known as 'HYDRUS'". Lavallette-Seaside & Ortley Beach Shorebeat. Archived from the original on February 8, 2017. Retrieved June 3, 2017.

[CNN_top_10-10] Hetter, Katia (May 26, 2017). "A roller coaster fanatic's 10 picks for 2017". CNN. Archived from the original on May 26, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.

[USA_Today_top_9-11] Levine, Arthur (February 14, 2017). "The nine most anticipated new roller coasters of 2017". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 1, 2017. Retrieved June 1, 2017.