Evolution Marine and Thundercat Racing
What do the Evolution Marine team do in their (very limited) spare time? Race Thundercat powerboats of course!
What is a Thundercat race? This adrenalin fuelled sport is often described as Motocross on the water. With up to 12 inflatable catamarans (originally designed for surf rescue) now repurposed as high-speed racing vessels.
The boats themselves are around 4 metres in length, approximately 80kg in weight, and fitted with a 50-horsepower outboard engine. Racing with a 2-person team, the driver controls steering and power with a co-driver carefully shifting their weight to balance the boat. It sounds simple but this all occurs at speeds of up to 60mph and potentially 3g of force when making turns around the course markers!
Evolution Marine entered the scene in 2019, (Director/Chief Engineer Jeremy and Operations Manager Chrissy) racing in the first ever Plymouth Sound Race to raise money for charity.
Unfortunately (and fortunately!) the Pandemic and a Pregnancy put a stop to racing, but this led to an unexpected pairing! Blackjack Racing were also down a co-driver, so half of the Evolution Marine team Jeremy Linford) joined with half of Blackjack Racing (Ben Cantelo) just in time to compete in the Maldives Invitational Trophy as one of the teams representing the UK!
2021 and 2022 were very successful seasons, with team 21 Blackjack Racing on the podium several times. Including 1st places in the ‘Round the Island’ (Isle of Wight/Poole Bay Classic) and the Plymouth Sound Race 2 years in a row! With their 1st in the ‘Spirit of the sea Falmouth’ race making them the winners of the UK 2022 Thundercat Championship!
With Evolution Marine as their primary sponsor the team is also supported by Rockoil, Xcel Wetsuits, and Gaia Spa Boringdon!
You can see more about their journey here: https://www.facebook.com/21BlackjackRacing/
