Each month we pick out an iconic boat that can lay claim to the title of world’s coolest boat. This month, we take a closer look at the Ice Marine Bladerunner 34
If ever there was a boat destined for the Cool Boat page, look no further than the subject of this month’s missive. Just the name alone is worth the price of admission: the Bladerunner. And it’s built by Ice Marine! We’re in sub-zero territory already, and we’ve not even got to the boat yet. Indeed, can it even live up to such a billing?
Fortunately, the answer is an emphatic “yes”. Born of former world champion powerboat driver Jeremy Watts, this 34ft speed machine was conceived with both offshore racing and the leisure market in mind. In fact it was Watts’s powerboating experience that led to its creation.
After winning the championship in 1995 aboard a Forgecraft aluminium monohull, described as “bloody uncomfortable in the rough”, Watts began the search for a more suitable design, which led him to the door of designer Lorne Campbell.
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“Whilst I had no prejudices about hull forms, the specification led towards something of at least 30ft and comfortable,” said Watts, ”which took me away from the catamaran concept. But stability and accommodation were also essential, which rather mitigated against a small, narrow gutted monohull.” Campbell came up with the idea of a trimaran.
Two years of development and evaluation resulted in the boat you see here, mould construction for what became the Bladerunner 34 starting in 1997. Technically a stabilised monohull rather than a true trimaran, all hydrodynamic lift came from the centre hull, with the sponsons delivering stability and the wings in-between offering aerodynamic lift at over 50mph. A leisure version with the ability to sleep two people was launched at the 1998 Southampton Boat Show.
The first sale was to a gentleman who raced Ferraris, and he used it to commute at high speed between his home in the Channel Islands and mainland Britain and France. Fitted with twin outboard engines of up to 300hp, the cruiser version topped out at 70 knots, the racer at over 90 knots.
Looks fast on the inside to
The original 34 evolved into a BR35 and a RIB but the boat’s coolest moment was during the 2012 London Olympics. A modified version with dummy rocket boosters and illuminated water sprays was fitted with a special bow seat to support 16-year-old Olympic torch-bearer Jade Bailey on her way to the Olympic Park.
And at the helm as it blasted up the River Thames beneath a firework-bedecked Tower Bridge, none other than David Beckham, dressed in a sharp suit, fresh from three days of powerboat training – although Jeremy took over for the final docking manoeuvre to avoid any last minute embarrassment. The world’s coolest footballer on the world’s coolest named boat had arrived, and how.
To submit your suggestion for the world’s coolest boat, head over to the MBY forum.
Ice Marine Bladerunner 34 specifications
Year: 1998
LOA: 34ft (10.3m)
Beam: 9ft 6in (2.9m)
Power: Twin Mercury Promax 300hp outboard engines
Speed: 70/90 knots
Price when new: £80,000
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