Cats do like water, especially Surf! 

Southampton Team return to Watergate Bay to defend Surf Title

Championship leaders, Southampton based Thundercat Racing Team Ahmad Tea of Pilot Mike Littler  and Co-Pilot Joe Farley this weekend (15/16 September) will head to the UK's premier Extreme Sports location of Watergate Bay for the 4th round of the 2012 RYA British Thundercat Championship.

Watergate Bay in Newquay is renowned for it's Extreme sports and boasts one of the UK's premier surfing venues. With it's relentless swells from the Atlantic providing awesome racing conditions for Thundercat Racing's inflatable catamarans, allowing the racers to experience the thrill of racing these phenomenal boats in the big surf conditions they were originally designed for.

King of Surf defense

Team Ahmad Tea, are returning to the Cornish coast looking to defend their title of King of the Surf, in the British powerboat series ThunderCat Racing UK. The pair first took on the challenge of the renowned Watergate surf in May where they won the overall Stock Class, but conditions were only 3ft waves, Mike reported "I'm hoping for the infamous Watergate Bay big surf conditions to show the crowds what the boats can really do and of course get the adrenalin pumping again after the summer break from racing."

The boats are 4 meter inflatable catamarans designed in South Africa in the 80's as Life saving surf rescue craft. With a 50hp outboard bolted to the back,in flat conditions they  can expect speeds of over 55 mph but in the rough can reach a more modest 40mph along with the added excitement of getting vertical as they punch through the waves.

Maximum Performance

Team Ahmad Tea have been working closely with Propeller Solutions based in Dorset to get the maximum performance out of their rig, Joe commented "In Stock class no engine tuning is allowed meaning that to get a competitive edge you have to spend time developing the areas that you can play with."

With forecasts promising 8ft swells Littler who is no stranger to surf racing can't wait for the challenge ahead "Racing in the surf conditions Watergate Bay can produce is awesome, but it's certainly not for the feint hearted. It's all about team work, trust and respect of the conditions. When the boat is out of the water you loose all control from the propeller Joe has to trust me to take the right line through the surf and I have to trust that he'll be in the right position in the boat to help us land the right way up.

He continues "Racing in surf means facing Mother Nature at her strongest you have to have complete respect of the conditions. Joe and I are completely at ease with each other in the boat and can't wait to see what we can do in some real surf."

For more information about the race series visit www.thundercatracing.co.uk or if you want to see this adrenalin filled extreme sport the series are competing on the 15-16th September at Watergate Bay, Cornwall racing starts at 11am each day.