ThunderCat Racing, ‘In a League of Their Own’
Image: Jerry Lake
There was a double whammy for the sport of ThunderCat Racing in June. In addition to staging round five of the RYA P750 ThunderCat Racing British Championship, the Solent Longhaul, the sport also played host to the filming of a segment of Sky’s TV show ‘A League of Their Own’.
The show’s stars, Freddie Flintoff, Jamie Redknapp, Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis, all thought they were going to have an easy ride when they headed to Universal Marina for a safety briefing and training… expecting to go out and race much larger powerboats.
However later in the day the directors gave them a shock and announced to them that they would be racing the much smaller, dynamic and agile ThunderCat boats. After training, two teams raced off at 4.30pm against each other from the parade Cowes Beach. You will have to find out who won in September.
However the main action was the next day…round five of the RYA P750 ThunderCat Racing British Championship. Called the Solent Long-haul, this event is a departure from the usual type of ThunderCat Racing you will see across the UK. Instead of the normal rough and tumble of off the shore racing, the ThunderCat powerboats faced a gruelling 100km across the Solent… a true test of endurance and bravery.
The Solent Haul is all about navigation and is entirely different to racing on the surf. The 11 teams had to race around eight different markers across one long lap and one short lap. Because there is very little space on the small racing boats, there was very little equipment to aid navigation except a laminated course map stuck on the hull. The boats reached speeds of up to 70mph providing some a fabulous spectacle for those spectating from RIB’s
Image: Jerry Lake
Winning the Prostock race were Multispark Onyx (Bligh Julius & Will Gawn) who benefited from racing on home turf. In second place were Multispark Racing Products 61 (James Tapp & Scott Brown) followed by father and daughter team Haggis Hunters (David & Ashleigh Finlayson). Ocean Racing 55 (Andy White & Phil Adams) was the winner of the modified race.
The next events are rounds six and seven of the RYA P750 ThunderCat Racing British Championship on 4 – 5 August which will take place at Minehead.
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