ICE Marine was established in 1995 by Jeremy Watts, an offshore racer driven by a passion for high speed craft and a strong desire to improve the breed. That same year, Jeremy teamed with successful Naval Architect Lorne Campbell and a highly respected group of offshore racing professionals in the field of design, engineering and construction.
Their mission – to create the ultimate offshore power craft…
At the start of their partnership, Jeremy Watts was fresh from his 1995 2 litre World Championship win, and the eminent naval architect Lorne Campbell was already a highly successful performance powercraft designer – credited with an enviable 100 race wins and 20 World and National championships.
Together they set out to develop a new hull form, focused on improving efficiency, handling and safety of race boats and high speed leisure craft – the Bladerunner was born.
The team soon established itself and the first Bladerunner launched and raced in the 1998. The RS6 ICE Raceboat (Blade 001) was an immediate hit on the demanding 6 litre circuit, winning the Cowes Classic Round the Island Race twice in succession and went on to secure the National 6 litre speed record of 101.7mph.
‘Skean DHU’ was designed and developed by Lorne Campbell. This exceptional boat was winner of the following: 1976 - National 4 litre champion 1979 - Class 2 World offshore record 1980 - Outright World offshore record
‘SGL Jet’ was designed by Lorne Campbell in 1985, and further improved in 1989 with the SGL Jet 2. Both SGL Jet craft went on to compete successfully in the British Offshore Racing series.
Designed and developed by Lorne Campbell. ‘Mac Tools’ won the 4 litre World Championship in 1992’.
Jeremy Watts teams with Lorne Campbell Design to form ICE Marine & develop the Bladerunner Series.
The ‘BR-34-R56’ was launched and became a Cowes Classic Winner 2000, 01, 02 and captured the National Speed Record of 101.7mph.
The first leisure model of the Bladerunner was launched with twin 225hp or twin 300hp Mercury outboards, 4 seats and a small aft cuddy cabin.
The BR51 smashed the Round Britain World Record by 3.5 hours and still holds the record to this day.
This saw the launch of the BR-35 (65-90KTS) and BR-35-R
Launch of the BR-51 leisure boat (60KTS) Also the NAVATEK BR-51 Tour Boat
The BR35 RIB was introduced sharing the same unique AEM Bladerunner hull as the BR35.
The launch of the SB40, designed and built for Navatek Ltd of Hawaii.
The BR-35-RIB featured in 2012 London Olympic Opening Ceremony, with David Beckham.
The ARCIMS USVs launched. Designed and built for AEUK, the ARCIMS continues to be in series production.
The BR45 Interceptor was launched powered by triple Cummins 550 diesels achieving the target design speed of 70 knots.
The BR45 GT is introduced to the leisure market following extensive trials and refinements to the BR45 prototype.
The first Santoku in production.
In 2005 the team of Neil McGrigor, Tony Jenvey, Jeremy Watts and John Guille, set out on a mission to challenge the Round Britain World Record. The time to beat, set in 2001, stood at 30 hours 51 minutes.
With 20 years of comprehensive development behind the Bladerunner 51ft, it was the perfect craft to take on this test.
After rigorous team training and optimisation of the Bradstone Challenger the crew successfully set a new record of 27hrs & 10 minutes, smashing the previous record by more than 3 hours – a record that the team and the Bradstone Challenger still hold today over 15 years later.
In 2012, London hosted the Olympics Games, and the traditional opening ceremony took place on the evening of Friday 27 July 2012 in the Olympic Stadium.
The Olympic Flame took an 8000 mile ceremonial journey from Olympia, and the Bladerunner was selected to be its bearer during its final stretch.
Said to be ‘one of the defining images of the London 2012 Games’ – An estimated 900 million people watched as the BR35 RIB sped down the river synchronised to a massive pyrotechnic display that included a curtain of fire descending from Tower Bridge.
The BR RIB 35 ‘Max Power’ was decked out with four rockets containing smoke canisters, a high-pressure waterjet bar and dozens of lights, and piloted by famous footballer David Beckham.
Torchbearer Jade Bailey carried the Torch to the shores of the Olympic Park where it was handed to five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave and jogged into the stadium.