Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Robert Farago

08/04/2003

I’m sitting in the cockpit of a Bladerunner GT, powering down the Solent River, headed straight into a Force 8. The sea is a cauldron of three-foot swells and wind-beaten chop. Although the Bladerunner shakes like a Japanese rally car on a forest road, I manage to read the GPS navigation screen: 55.61 knots. Call it 64 mph. Jeremy Watts, managing director of Ice Marine, lifts off the gas pedal, throws the wheel to the left, then reapplies full power. Within seconds, the Bladerunner’s prow is aimed directly at the side of a rusting oil tanker.

My right brain says we are going to die. My left brain reminds me that Watts is a European powerboat champion with a wife and two children. Improbably, mercifully, the Bladerunner GT powers away from danger with at least a thousand yards to spare. Equally astounding, the Bladerunner remains perfectly flat, even though the lateral g’s squeeze me into the leather seat’s right bolster. And there is none of the “leap, crash, leap” behavior traditionally associated with hot rod motorboats doing their thing over heavy seas. It is a powerboat—but not as we know it.

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The car-like placement of instrumentation includes a GPS monitor. (Click image to enlarge)

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Credit naval architect Lorne Campbell. The 56-year-old designer’s boats hold six world championships and five world records. In 1998, Watts persuaded Campbell to join his Ice Marine team to create the ultimate offshore powerboat. “Our goal was to build an entirely new hull,” Campbell says, “something that combined maximum stability with race-winning efficiency.” Three years later, the first Bladerunner circumnavigated the Isle of Wight to win the prestigious Cowes Classic. In 2002, the Bladerunner repeated the victory and placed second in the European Championships.
According to Campbell, the Bladerunner wins races by solving an old problem. “If you want to go fast over water, a narrow hull is the optimal solution. But narrow hulls are inherently unstable; the boat tends to fall over in flat water. The Bladerunner gets around this in two ways. First, the air flowing through the wind tunnels (flanking the main hull) generates enough lift to support the weight of the boat. Second, the sponsons—the sharp outriggers at the end of the wings—provide tremendous lateral stability.”

Problem solved. The resulting race-spec Bladerunner is busy dominating its class. Meanwhile, Jeremy Watts would like to sell a few Bladerunners to the leisure market, as well. To that end, Ice Marine offers a more user-friendly version of its competition craft: the Bladerunner GT.

The company builds the GT with seamless composites, rather than expensive, hard-riding carbon fiber, and equips the Bladerunner GT with two 3-liter Mercury Optimax engines. While the direct-injection V-6 outboards lack the aural drama of proper V-8s, their power-to-weight ratio helps keep the Bladerunner’s center of gravity reassuringly forward. The power plants are also good for 225 hp—enough grunt to power the GT to its 61-knot (70 mph) maximum. At slightly more serene speeds (approximately 60 mph), the craft’s 100-gallon fuel tank gives the boat an entirely useful 300-mile cruising range.

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The Bladerunner GT’s four-place cockpit, above, clearly indicates that this boat is built for high speed travel. (Click image to enlarge)

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Ah, utility. Thanks to its radical design, the Bladerunner’s role as a leisure craft is not immediately apparent. The narrow hull severely limits usable space. While the massive, thrusting nose will swallow all the necessary fenders and some generous sunbathing cushions, there is only enough cabin room for two-plus-two seating and a tiny aft cuddy. The test boat, owned by UK celebrity chef James Martin, has a widescreen TV and PlayStation slotted into the space, so Martin will have to earn his Medal of Honor lying down. As a practical day boat, the Bladerunner is far from ideal.
Bizarre as it sounds, the Bladerunner GT also fails as the ultimate high-speed craft for ocean-loving adrenaline junkies. Its magic carpet ride above 60 mph delivers about as much airborne excitement as a hovercraft. In fact, on anything less than a flat sea, the Bladerunner could well be the most efficient way to transport one to four people from point A to point B over water. It is certainly the most comfortable. All of which makes the Bladerunner the perfect tender for antisocial megayacht owners or the best possible pleasure craft for boaters who want to travel great distances at great speeds, in comfort and style.

Ice Marine, +44.1420.520.770, www.icemarine.com