Road racing fans can now book ferry travel to both the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling and International Southern 100 Road Races for 2017.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company has confirmed its schedules for next year, and bookings open on Friday (14th October).

There will be sailings from Heysham, Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin to the heart of the Island’s capital, Douglas, making it easy for fans to experience the action and atmosphere for themselves.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company International Southern 100 Road Races, which the ferry firm has been headline sponsor of for almost two decades, takes place from 10th to 13th July.

The fortnight-long Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling, which features a range of two-wheel events including the Manx Grand Prix and Classic TT, begins on 19th August.

With the Steam Packet Company fans will, as ever, be able to travel with cars, vans and motorcycles, as well as on foot.

Bookings are still being taken for the 2017 Isle of Man TT, which runs from 27th May to 9th June, although availability on many peak sailings is limited due to the high demand. Deposits for bookings opened earlier this year, and any bookings for which outstanding balances are not paid will be released for sale in early 2017.

There is still some availability on the Steam Packet Company’s TT Taster offer, which gives visitors a chance to sample the festival atmosphere during Practice Week.

Of course, the Isle of Man is a great place to visit even when the races are not on, and the Steam Packet Company has more than 900,000 offer seats available during 2017 so there is plenty of opportunity to explore more of the Island throughout the year.

Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward said: 

‘We’re delighted to be able to open bookings for 2017 now, allowing visitors to plan their trips to the Isle of Man, whether it is for one of the road racing events or just to come and explore.

‘We have already seen huge levels of interest in attending the 2017 TT, with massive demand when deposit bookings opened earlier this year. I am expecting to see continued growth in demand for both the Southern 100 and Festival of Motorcycling, especially after seeing the number of passengers carried during the 2016 festival increase by 6.3% on the previous year.’

He added: 

‘The Steam Packet Company is an active supporter of events in the Isle of Man, for example as longstanding headline sponsor of the Southern 100 and a sponsor of special events at every Classic TT since it started, and we look forward to welcoming many more visitors to our shores in 2017.’