Thunder Child sets new world record for 'long-way around' Irish voyage

The 18-metre Interceptor-style vessel powered its way 2,020km anti-clockwise around Ireland, encapsulating all of Ireland’s islands.

At 9pm tonight the boat and the five crew on board made their way to Cobh, 34 hours after they set off from the Old Head Kinsale.

Reaching speeds of up to 60kts, its long range 5,000 litre fuel tanks allowed a range of over 750 nautical miles. This meant it only stopped to refuel twice, once in Portrush and the second time in Belmullet.

The vessel’s progress was tracked live using advanced satellite technology through a dedicated website, https://thunderchild.safetrxapp.com. The crew members also kept on top of their social media accounts to update their followers on the feat.

Along their journey they also took time to honour the crew of the Irish Coastguard Rescue 116, at Black Rock lighthouse off Blacksod Bay.

Skipper and designer of Thunderchild, Frank Kowalski told us, “The crew are feeling elated. It's been an amazing journey from when the idea of the world record first came into being a year ago. We've all worked towards this trip ever since and today it's culminated in the most epic journey.

“Thunder Child was amazing and performed absolutely flawlessly. Rockall at sunrise this morning was spectacular. We have a fabulous team both on the trip and back at base and everything has gone perfectly”.