Thunder Child II: Inside the world of extreme endurance powerboating

Tell us Nick, about your role in relation to the 54 Knots Endurance Team and the latter’s work and responsibilities.

I am the team principal, which is a grand title for the person who pays for the fuel when we dock! We assembled a unique and highly competent team to run her for the UIM Endurance Powerboat events we undertake. On board we have to work as a tight team where we are all capable of taking immediate and critical decisions. Travelling at night at over 40 knots using radar and FLIR, whilst managing four engines, twin speed gearboxes and a complex surface drive system demands extreme concentration.

But why, Thunder Child II? By anyone’s standards, she is a pretty extraordinary vessel…

She is frankly unbelievable. The seaworthiness is to be experienced. On one crossing through the Golfe de Lyon we were taking 34-knot winds and 6-8 metre seas on the port quarter. TC2, as we call her, is 23 metres long, and when we crested the waves the bow caught the wind. It was interesting climbing the waves at about 12 knots and surfing down them at 32 knots+ before landing at an angle in the wave trough, and repeating, for 5 hours. The French Coast Guard called us to see if we needed any help, but the only thing we really need was some hot coffee.

How did you come to acquire her and were there other vessels on your original acquisition shortlist list?

We looked at lots of ‘boats’, but Safehaven build a vessel that is unique. Wherever we go we get admirers and followers, and that is great as it supports all the charity work that we try to arrange in every port we visit.

What aspects of the craft have you found to be of particular benefit to the roles Thunder Child II has to perform?

Extreme endurance capabilities, range and surprisingly fuel efficiency. We can run for 750 nautical miles at over 35 knots, sometimes faster, and that is in a vessel that is unbelievably stable. It delivers speed and safety for our crew of five. One example of that is leaving Monaco, circumnavigating Corsica and Sardinia and getting back to Monaco for a sundowner the next day – 21 hours later.

To what extent are Thunder Child’s rough water capabilities critical to the Team’s work and can you give some examples?

We have four Caterpillar c8.7 engines delivering enormous power to four France Hélice surface drive systems. That coupled to our trimaran hull configuration, hydrofoil systems and wave-piercing central hull, means that we have a unique vessel.

Does the vessel have any peculiar handling characteristics which set it apart from other more ‘standard’ craft?

It’s a powerful boat, not a power boat. That means that at 32 tons, and we can take 12,000 litres of fuel, it takes a minute or so to get up onto the hydrofoil. Piloting a hydrofoil vessel is not just dealing with wind and waves but the whole balance, and the pitch and yaw characteristics you find in an aeroplane. When we fuel we try and get an exact weight balance across her to help that characteristic and remember that only one third of her is in the water when we are on the foil. Rear winglets between the outer hulls provide some additional balance, and when we are on them our stern thrusters are out of the water. In an emergency we can do extremely tight turns, but that drops us off the foil and historically created issues with the sea water intakes, which we have now modified. In port we tend to only use the two outer engines, and TC2 is very manoeuvrable, but with four huge propellers mounted 1.5 metres out from the transom, docking is always a multi-hand event. The propellers are also our rudders and trim tabs, so critical components.

Now you’ve had time to get familiar with the craft and its systems, are there any retro-styled customisations you might be planning?

We had to add grab rails into the heads, and we are still trying to find out which team member’s teeth marks are embedded in them. With experience we have made a few engineering modifications, all fully supported and developed with Frank Kowalski and his amazing team at Safehaven Marine. During an event we tend to hunker down, the most used bunk is on the bridge floor under the engineering station and aft of the navigator’s chair. Trying to sleep forward is a challenge. Ben has managed to take a shower at 36 knots whilst we were crossing the Bay of Biscay, but holds our team record for that achievement.

What are some of the standout experiences you’ve had thus far since taking up ownership and can you give us some insight as to your future aims with Thunder Child II?

We hold six UIM endurance world records, so far. My personal standout is the way that we have managed to get the team together and stay together. We have had our challenges; Tristan will never eat a tuna sandwich bought in Schiphol airport again. We will always check the heads valves are closed, before reaching for the emergency bilge pump halfway across the Irish sea. We promise to stop chasing Royal Navy ships and finding unsuspecting police and customs officials to appear as out-takes on our voyage videos. We promise to not try and take superyacht ground lines onto the bow. We will get a passerelle extension so that we can get off TC2 with elegance rather than getting the marina to create a floating walkway for us to disembark across. We will try not to start our engines before 05:00 when moored in a marina and outside a five-star hotel. We will continue to raise money for the good causes we support and we may be at a port near you soon! We were, of course, at the 2025 Southampton Boat show !