Bladerunner

ICE Marine builds the Bladerunner series out of Warsash, on the River Hamble in the UK, and the range is the build we ask for when a programme needs outright offshore performance without conceding on finish or seakeeping. Established in 1995 by offshore racing champion Jeremy Watts, the yard's founding brief was to improve speed, efficiency, handling, and safety in high-speed powercraft - and that engineering priority runs through every hull in the current line-up.

The Bladerunner identity is the Air Entrapment Monohull, or AEM: a stabilised monohull with twin tunnels that flare from the slender stepped hull and terminate in knife-edged sponsons. The tunnels generate aerodynamic lift at speed, reduce wetted surface area, and add lateral stability without the beam penalty of a true multihull. In practical terms, the hull runs fast and flat in open water where a conventional deep-V would be working hard.

The flagship 51 (15.5m) pairs twin 1,000 hp Caterpillar C18 engines with Arneson surface drives for a verified top speed above 65 knots and a full-throttle range of over 500 nautical miles; the first hull of the BR45 went directly to a large-superyacht owner. As a chase platform, the series offers 50-plus knots in standard leisure specification, with powering options reaching 70 knots for specialist applications. The Bradstone Challenger, a Bladerunner 51, holds the outright Round Britain powerboat record - 27 hours and 10 minutes set in 2005 - which remains the most credible real-world proof of what this hull form can sustain offshore.