“Every ten or twelve waves we’d hit
a bigger one and the wave-piercing
bow would come into effect. It was
more exciting than scary, though”
and fi lming the voyage. Last but not least, Carl Randalls, another
pilot boat coxswain at the Port of Cork, would also help with
helming duties.
To prepare themselves for the record, the crew undertook
a couple of high-speed endurance runs during the spring. The
fi rst from Cork to Dublin, a journey of 150nm, was successfully
completed in a time of three hours and 45 minutes at an average
speed of 43 knots. The second, a 210nm run along the Atlantic
Seaboard from Cork to Galway, was completed in fi ve hours
averaging 42 knots. These two trial runs gave the crew a chance
to see how they and the boat coped with sustained high speeds.
They even had the opportunity to put their emergency training
to the test when a propeller snagged an old piece of fi shing net
on the run south from Galway, requiring Ciaran to don a wetsuit
and dive in to clear it.RECORD BREAKERS
The record attempt was scheduled for late June to give them
the best chance of catching a suitable weather window as well
as maximum daylight hours. With the testing now complete,
the XSV 17 was given a spectacular metallic silver wrap and
christened Thunder Child.
Finally, on July 4, a short weather window appeared between
two Atlantic fronts. It wouldn’t leave much time for the seas
to die down after fi ve days of continuous winds but confi dent
in Thunder Child’s ability, the team decided to go for it. With
the winds coming from the south-west, they made a late call to
switch the route from a clockwise circumnavigation of Ireland
to an anti-clockwise route. With luck, this would give the Atlantic
waves slamming into the west coast time to die down before they
reached the return leg.
Shortly after 10am, Thunder Child roared past the starting line
outside Cork Harbour heading east along the south coast. There
was still a 2m swell running but with the wind behind them, Frank
was able to trim the nose up and keep the throttle buried. “The
seas were bigger than expected but at least with following seas we
were able to maintain a fast cruising speed of 43 knots by jumping
from wave to wave,” recalls Frank. “Every ten or 12 waves we’d hit
a bigger one and the wave-piercing bow would come into effect,
but it was more exciting than scary.”
They were hoping to fi nd calmer waters as they rounded Tuskar
Rock lighthouse off the south-east corner of Ireland at around
midday, but were disappointed to fi nd exactly the opposite. The
constant Force 5 winds had stirred up the Irish sea into a boiling
mass that got worse and worse the further north they went.
“We tried tucking in closer to shore to stay out of the worst
of it but there was no avoiding it on the more exposed run from
Dublin up to Belfast,” recounts Frank. “By this point, we were
driving directly into head seas of up to 3m and were forced
to drop the speed to 30 knots and trim the bow right down.”conditions dictate, can be trimmed right down into head seas
so it slices through waves for a more comfortable ride. A pair of
small adjustable bow fi ns provide additional buoyancy control
in following seas while shock-mitigating seats add a fi nal layer
of defence for the crew. Long-range fuel tanks with a capacity
of more than 5,000 litres allow it to cover 750nm between fi lls
at a cruising speed of 40 knots, while FLIR night vision cameras
ensure the crew don’t need to stop when the sun goes down.ENDURANCE TESTING
Before attempting the record itself, the crew needed to know the
boat was up to it. The fi rst job was to test its self-righting ability
by deliberately inverting it with a crane. Initially this was carried
out unmanned but when this proved successful, they repeated the
exercise with three crew on board. Safe in the knowledge that it
would survive being rolled by a breaking wave, they then moved
on to two months of heavy-weather testing. Twice they went out
into the teeth of a Force 9 gale battling seas of up to 20ft in the
notorious overfalls outside Cork Harbour. The idea was to try out
its wave-piercing abilities and expose any weaknesses prior to the
record attempt. On one occasion, they hit an unexpected 4m wave
at 40 knots through a much smaller chop. The resulting impact tore
the radar off the top of the mast but the boat survived unscathed.
Sea trials completed, Frank then needed to settle on a crew. As
an ex commercial skipper and Safehaven’s chief test driver, Frank
would take the skipper’s role. Ciaran Monks, a pilot boat coxswain
and a rough-weather test driver for Safehaven, would be responsible
for nighttime navigation during the record attempt. Ian Brownlee,
another rough-weather specialist and Safehaven employee, would
be responsible for electrical and engineering systems. Mary Power,
Safehaven’s fi nancial consultant, would be in charge of logistics39TRAVELFuelled and ready
to go with 5,000
litres on board