Four Irish Thundercat racers crossed the Irish Sea from Dublin to Holyhead on their first attempt on Saturday in an effort to raise funds and awareness of Pieta House, the centre for self harm and suicide prevention.
Team Adventure Training Ireland (Pilot; Donnchadh Mac Cobb & Co-pilot; Carmel Guilfoyle) and Team Aptriva (Pilot; Peter Sweeney & Co-pilot; Chris Gleeson) departed
Dublin City Moorings on the River Liffey at 9am and arrived into Holyhead Port at 1.10pm, completing the crossing in 4 hours and 10 minutes.
The crossing was done in their Thundercats (P750 race boats) which are 4 metre long inflatable powerboats capable of high speeds, big jumps and tight turns. The distance
covered on the day was just over 120KM and the max speed reached was 65km/ph.
The Thundercat route from Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead
After leaving through Dublin Port, the boats headed for the Baily Lighthouse on Howth head where they topped up the fuel tanks before heading east into the Irish Sea leaving
the sight of land behind them. With a Westerly wind behind them the conditions began to freshen as the crews got closer to the Welsh coast. With one fuel stop and a few short
breaks to readjust and take a breather they fleet pushed on. The last 15 miles in particular were described as a nightmare by the crews as they battled exhaustion and pain as their bodies took a constant bashing by the elements.
The team have raised nearly €3,000 for Pieta House to date.
