CLUB:East Coast Powerboat Club
HULL: Ceasar
ENGINE: Tohatsu 50
INFO: This is Colin and Conor's second full year competing in the National Championships and they're expected to be right at the front of the field for the season. 2010 saw them both come very close to taking the overall title, as well as a fine performance at the Europeans. For 2011 they have a completely new hull with its distinctive black and orange colouring. This will be the team to beat this year.

CLUB:Youghal Bay Boat Club
HULL: Aquarius
ENGINE: Tohatsu 50
INFO: New crew combination for this year. Ronan's an old master at the sport having taken Silver at the Europeans last year, but Andrew is new to the sport ...although far from new to watersports in general. Ronan runs Ardmore Adventures below in County Waterford where he offers a variety of crazy things to do on land and sea ..... and every so often he just might put on a t-shirt.


...more raceteam profiles to follow over the next few days ...in the meantime grab a stiff drink, a stable chair and read on...

MARTIN MORRIS - De Man with de knowledge. Martin looks after the powerboat racing section of the club which is quite appropriate seeing as he does a lot of 'looking after' things anyway in a security role. Always first on the water when there's a need, just don't throw him any bread or you'll want to stay upwind for a while.

LIZ NEVILLE - the original (and as she'll quickly tell you herself) still the best Thunderkitten out there. A woman of considerable talents - not least of which being the fact that she seems to be related to everyone on the planet. Currently studying (or worrying about studying, or thinking she should be studying..) at the Nautical College in Ringaskiddy. Take the mick out of the sport or any of the club boats at your peril when Liz is about. You have been warned.

PETER SWEENEY - Peter has a real pilot's license and anyone that knows how he drives a Thundercat will understand just how appropriate this is. An original darklord from the world of Zap ...he's finally coming across to the lighter side. Sadly, Peter is from Kerry and his progress in Cork has been hampered by the shock of traffic lights and pubs that only sell beer (as against the Kerry ones that double as shops, undertakers, garda stations, farmyards, etc.). Peter is The Stig of our little Thundercat world and some say......(fill in as you deem appropriate).

RONAN O'CONNOR - The McGyver, or Bear Grylls, of the Irish thundercat community. Ronan is a survive anywhere, do anything kind of guy. He runs Ardmore Adventures; is an instructor in kayaking, watersafety, powerboating, sailing and fitness; keeps naughty people out of nice places; can scale tall buildings in a single-leap (probably); can breath underwater (possibly); can make a thermo-nuclear device out of a rizla paper and a dog's eyelash (almost certainly); and can abseil using just his hair (maybe not). Ronan's got the knowledge, and what's more, he's the only one of us that actually looks like he should be on the water.

NIALL O'FLAHERTY - ...is the reason why more pubs in Ireland are getting through this recession. Most people use the pouches on their cats for safety gear - not Niall - these are the perfect hoard-spots for the fruit of the educated classes....bottles of buckie. A true legend in the world of Thundercatting, Niall has been known to leave the CatCave in Galway and be on site in nanoseconds (you just need to uncork a bottle and he's behind you). If there's an 'event' (= possibility of a 'do') at any Catting event then Niall is the first on the list.

JASON ANSBRO (pictured here with his locally-famous child-eating dog) is one half of Youghal's most-famous Thundercatting duo. Jason is in the navy, where he sails the seven seas, puts his mind at ease and protects the motherland. When not chasing nasty foreign fishermen away from our shores Jason is on the water in some form or other - diving, canoeing, wakeboarding ....and of course Thundercatting.

NOEL CASHMAN - the other half of Youghal's most-famous Thundercatting duo. Following his meteoric rise to fame after the Thundercat European Beach Challenge in June of 2008 Noel found the whole fame thing a bit hard to handle. Thinking that a break and a fresh challenge might do him good he took himself off to Oz, only to be followed by the paps. After a long year of hard work (yeah, right), trophy girlfriends and sheep-worrying he finally was heard to cry "I'm a thundercatter, get me outta here, like". So he's due back soon and we're not letting him go so easily this time.

CLIVE HAWKINS - Clive is the go-to guy if you want a good deal on new/used boats. Similarly if you've got a mechanical problem he's got just the right hammer to fix it with.  Clive, along with his co-pilot Keith have competed with huge success both locally and internationally in Thundercat racing. Sadly Clive has been in hibernation since September and won't re-appear until the clocks go forward (hence the facial hair).

KEITH JEFFERS - ...is the fastest taxi driver in West Cork .....he's so fast that potential customers wont get in the cab with him, for fear of their lives. This of course makes him ideal Thundercat crew material. When Keith isn't driving a taxi or crewing a cat, he's busy tending to his butterfly collection or out hugging lonely animals. According to legend, he hasn't slept since he was three ....and like Clive his facial hair is believed to have mystical healing powers (as well as valuable remnants from particularly memorable meals)

DAVE O'HANLON - one half of the Tramore Mafia. A man of many talents - sadly few of them applicable to our needs ...but we love him anyway. As with many of our crews Dave is a lifeboat guy, and if you ever need rescuing by him you'll need to be patient ....especially if there's any good waves to be caught. Once the woo-hoo-ing is all done, he'll be over to you ...just be patient.

NEIL CUSHEN - the other half of the Tramore mafia. Don't let those pretty-boy looks fool you - for beneath that machine-tanned, expensive-do-hair, hollywood-teeth and stapled-on shades lies a thundercatting animal. Having been rejected by Louis Walsh at an early Boyzone audition, Neil's boyband aspirations lay in tatters ...until he met Dave. Now the two of them regularly make sweet, sweet music ....tragically it's drowned out by the roar from a Tohatsu 2-stroke honking across Tramore Bay. Shame.

STEPHANIE LYNCH - The inside story coming any moment now .... just as soon as it gets through the thundercat legal department...

SALLY FOLEY - Another one of our fair-weather crew. If there's a chance it might be cold or wet then she's stayin' shore-side. However when she does don the wetsuit, gloves, booties, hot water bottle, duvet, and tinfoil hat to get out there on the water she's able to curse and swear with the best of us. Will always be fondly remembered by her pilot for kindly allowing herself to be used as a crash-landing pad in Tramore when a high-speed beaching went slightly wrong.

AIDAN FOLEY - ...umm ...emm ....aaah ..... I'll leave this for others to decide - other than to say that while my methodology may seem confusing, my heart's in the right place.

CORAN O'SULLIVAN - a true schizoid (in the nicest possible way), there's the sensible shore-side, working Coran .... and then there's the guy we know when he throws on the wetsuit ..... the 'not-so-sensible' Coran .... throwing himself around the deck. Hard landings, near-flips, big waves ... none of these matter as the response is always the same - a loud 'woohoo' that can be heard for miles, usually followed by a laugh and a 'can we do that again?' Deeply shy and reserved, but buy him a lollipop and he's your friend for life.

ELLEN DANAGHER - or just 'Em' if you're feeling friendly. Important to note - she's not 'small' .... she's 'fun-size'. During the season she can usually be found co-piloting one of the cats while being shouted at by Liz 'Thunderkitten' Neville. Others have said she's mad as a hatter, but we couldn't possibly comment. What we do know is that she throws herself around that boat like there's no tomorrow.

Lots more to come ....check back!