#thundercat – Building on last year's race across the Irish Sea to Holyhead, four Irish powerboat racers are taking on a Cork to Dublin challenge that puts them and their boats to the test, all in an effort to raise funds for Pieta House as part of Suicide Awareness Week.

The teams were training over last weekend, covering over 100km each in efforts to condition themselves to this lengthy endurance event - preparations are well under way. A press launch and wet demonstration outside of the Clarion Hotel in Cork is due in the coming days.

The teams have also raised just over €1,000 at a table quiz for suicide charity this week.

The boats are very light (boat = 85kg, engine = 80kg) meaning they are fast! They can reach speeds of over 35 knots and jump up to 6 metres in the air. The primary purpose of these boats 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, while the co-pilot uses their weight to adjust the balance and trim of the boat.

The crews are Donnchadh Mac Cobb at the helm of one boat with Carmel Guilfoyle crewing making up Team Adventure Training Ireland, while Peter Sweeney will helm the second with Mick Killen as crew making up Team Aptriva.  A third boat is manned by Aileen Mann and Jack Kingston. The boats and crews race competitively in the P750 National Powerboat Championship and will be taking time out from training between races to undertake this huge challenge.

The fundraiser has a facebook page here

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.

Youghal Boat Club hosts its first national powerboat race hosted this weekend. Commodore Padraig Brooks sends this report: "All of our committee have been working hard these past few weeks, in conjunction with the Ardmore Pattern Festival committee to bring you the very best event possible. Thankfully everything is now in place and we eagerly anticipate the morning of Sunday, July 25th when we take to the water.
With a little bit of luck on our side, weatherwise, we should be racing in front of thousands of spectators on a exciting course right in the heart of lovely Ardmore Bay. The layout of the town means that this is a really great location both for those watching and those competing.
Racing will be in the P750 (Thundercat/Zapcat) fleet and the nature of same makes for an extremely spectator-friendly event. At time of typing we're hoping to have the largest ever domestic fleet of these boats gathered in Ardmore. Timings for the weekend are as follows:
Friday night - several of the boats are launching to watch the festival fireworks from the water

Saturday 1400-1630: Casual run-out and shake-down of the boats

Sunday 1230-1630: Full round of the ISA P750 National Powerboat Championships

Aside from the racing, Ardmore will be bursting with great activity for the whole family this weekend. We'd love to see you down here, and if you make it, be sure to come over and say hello.