Redrourke Racing - The ThunderCat #27 Boat
2009 Awards
RYA 2009 ThunderCat National (Standard Class) – 3rd Place Overall
Prize for Best Newcomers for 2009
Redrourke Racing - The Boat
Imagine a 4 metre (13ft) inflatable catamaran weighing just 90 kilograms (198 lbs) with a 700cc outboard engine producing 50 HP and you get a better power to weight ratio than an Aston Martin Vanquish S or Porsche GT3 RS. Place 2 crew onboard and ask 12 teams to racing around a circuit 1000 metres long only 10 metres from the beach at over 50 mph and you have one of the most thrilling, spectator friendly powerboat racing available.
The boat is an Aquarius Aqua-Cat XRC asymmetrical catamaran designed by Rowan Hawkes and built by Aquarius in South Africa. Its 4.05 metres long, 2.1 metres wide and weighs just 90 kgs. The stainless steel transom supporting the engine is a ‘wash through’ design to allow the inevitable spray and waves to exit the boat quickly.
Aquarius has been at the forefront of inflatable race boat technology and has won just about every major title in South Africa, including the Constructor's Championship for the past 6 seasons.
The engine is a standard Tohatsu M50D2 two stroke outboard. This three cylinder engine has a displacement of 697cc, three carburettors and delivers 50 HP at the propeller. Being a two stroke, we use a mixture of unleaded petrol and Rock Oil MP3 marine engine oil premixed in the fuel tank. The engine has a manual start and twist grip throttle on a simple tiller steer mechanism. This keeps the engine as light as possible, weighing around 70 kgs, and means they can be restarted in less than 20 minutes if submerged following a capsize.