Thundercat Racing - Demo Day & Rides

Come along to the Community Spring Family Festival in Stanmore Bay Reserve/Beach. There will be carnival rides, family fun, food stalls and more, capped off with big-screen entertainment in the evening celebrating Rugby World Cup 2011.

The Thundercat Boats will be holding demonstration races, along with rides from 3pm - 5pm on Stanmore Bay Beach.

There will also be family sports, mini surf carnival, ripper rugby demonstration game and a 'have a go' tag rugby exhibition game, sealeg rides, a flare and rescue demonstration and trolley derby demonstration races from 3pm - 5pm.

From 5pm - 9pm there will be food and wine, market, and live entertainment, followed with big screen entertainment celebrating Rugby World Cup 2011 from 9pm - 11pm.

Thundercat racing is a high-adrenalin, high action-sport with explosive wave jumping and tight competitive surf racing in a tunnel hulled inflatable boat. The crew consists of a driver steering the boat and a co-pilot who uses their weight to stabilise the craft and obtain optimum speed. Thundercats have taken New Zealand by storm, entertaining thousands of spectators at some of the most popular beaches around the country such as Whangamata, Waihi, Waipu, Papamoa, Pauanui, Orewa, Takapuna Beach, Piha and Mount Maunganui.

Thundercat Racing has been seen on various TV programs over the years such as the Nestle Lion Bar Thundercat Series aired on TV One's Countrywide Grandstand, Prime TV and Sky Sport in 1998; the Challenge Series aired on TV One's Countrywide Grandstand & Sky Sport in 1999, and the 2001 Trans-Tasman series aired on Suzuki Sportzone & Sky TV in 2001/2002. The NZ Championship Series was seen in 2003 and in early 2005 the King of the Cape SurfHaul at 90 Mile Beach was seen on SKY TV.

Surf Cross Racing is run traditionally at surf beaches which provide spectacular jumps, thrills and spills with boats reaching 80kph in the surf. Surf-cross races start with a ‘Le-mans' style start where the driver dashes out into knee deep water to the co-pilot holding the boat. The teams then battle it out over several laps on a rectangular shaped course running parallel to the shoreline in as little as 300mm of water. The finish is dramatic as boats skid up the beach for co-pilots to leap out the front of their boats and run to the finish line.