Thundercat racing has grown massively popular in many countries across the globe in recent years, but our history begins in South Africa. This is a country with barely any winter, endless days of sunshine, dangerous rivers and huge offshore surf.

In the early 80's the first motorised inflatable race boats were created by local pioneers that had been searching for a sport that could test the extreme sea conditions of this vast country.

The development originated from life-saving monohull surf rescue crafts that were designed to use in a variety of sea conditions from flat waters to large breaking surf.

Racing proved very unstable and the shallow capability's caused great control problems which were solved by the ingenious fully inflatable catamaran tunnel hull design. The boat design has undergone dramatic evolution with these finely balanced boats progressing from rivers to sea, finally battling South Africa's large breaking surf. The boat technology has greatly improved since those early days with the sport crossing the oceans worldwide causing great levels of interest, thus the birth of Thundercat Racing Ireland.

The current boats come from a variety of manufacturers ('Thundercat' is the community name for all the boats that come from various manufacturers - Aquarius, Ceasar, Gemini, etc.) and are all powered by the same Tohatsu 50hp 2-stroke engines.

Because the boats are so light (boat = 85kg, engine = 80kg) they are fast!! Thundercats can reach speeds of up to 90 km/h and jump up to 6 metres in the air. The hi-jackers underneath the inflatable hulls give incredible traction, enabling high cornering speeds through any conditions.

The primary purpose of a Thundercat is surf racing and they race at high speeds in surf of up to 5 metres and wind speeds up to 45 knots. Crews consist of a pilot and a co-pilot. The pilot drives from the rear of the Thundercat, while the co-pilot uses his weight to adjust the trim of the boat. Each crew has its own preferences for how they kit out their boat for racing, which includes grab handles and ropes.

Surf racing usually takes place as close to the shoreline as possible, ensuring an amazing spectacle for those on the shore, and fabulous racing for our pilots and co-pilots. 'Long-haul' and 'circuit' race formats are also used.

While Thundercat Racing appears to be a wild looking sport, it simply masks what in reality is a highly regulated sporting structure. Inside here in Thundercat Racing Ireland we do a lot of our own in-house training, as well as regular training sessions where we bring in top Thundercat people from all over the world. There's a national racing series in place under the authority of the ISA (Irish Sailing Association), which holds Ireland's seat at the global governing body for powerboat racing - the UIM (Union Internationale Motonautique) in Monaco - which in turn oversees European and World Championships. When we race we do so under a global UIM racing class called 'P750'. So, 'Thundercats' is the Global 'Community' (and the commonly-used term for the boats), whereas P750 is the racing class name used in Ireland (in other territories they often just drop the P750 name and run with Thundercat, or use the two together)

Rules that protect the public image of Thundercat Racing are embodied into our codes of conduct and are strictly enforced to ensure the protection of the sport, and the investments made by the sponsors and advertisers.

Safety and public perception is given top priority. We are dedicated to full co-operation with environmental offices, local bodies, Harbour Masters and all other stakeholders whenever we take to the water. We insist that nobody gets on the water without at least a Level 2 Powerboat Cert, and even then we like to run a few familiarity runs first.

Aside from racing, we also cover safety and logistics for other watersports events, and we assist in search and rescue operations.

Thundercat Racing has mass appeal to all ages, male and female, offering great entertainment for any event and is positioning itself to become one of the most prominent new sports of the twenty first century.

As for the rest of the Global Thundercat Community, well you'll find them in the UK, Sydney, New Zealand, Russia, Brisbane, South Africa, Poland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, France, Austria and Canada. For more information about Thundercat Racing Ireland why not get in touch.