Mazda team captain Tom Montgomery-Swan Mazda UK and partner Linley Swan GP have scored a class victory in the arduous Powerboat and RIB Round Ireland Challenge 2013. Winning skipper, Tom Montgomery -Swan led the 13 remaining boats into Kilmore Quay at 2pm on August 4th, concluding ten days at sea through huge seas and high winds.
Tom Montgomery-Swan, 24 from Exeter, Devon, has been racing boats almost all of his life and said; “The Powerboat and RIB Round Ireland Challenge was one of the toughest ocean challenges in this part of the world, so to finish, let alone lead the fleet with Mazda was a truly incredible experience. With our newly Linley Swan designed boat, and capable Mazda CX-5 support car, we proved Mazda’s SKYACTIV principals worked on water, and on land.”
To contest the Round Ireland Challenge, Linley Swan produced a brand new boat using a proven Ribeye A Series hull design. The starting point for the project was Mazda SKYACTIV philosophy of lightweight, environmentally sound design without compromise on performance or handling.
Designed to defy convention, the boat introduced new technologies, and a new way of thinking about design for Linley Swan.
The six metre vessel features race specification materials, advanced electronics packages, fuel efficient engine technology, and custom suspension - a shock mitigating console and seat designed by a NASCAR firm in Canada.
Mazda UK supported Linley Swan with the popular CX-5 sports utility vehicle (SUV), which saw action as the exclusive land vehicle for the Linley Swan GP race team. The car covered almost 2,500 miles, delivering food, supplies, mechanical parts and much more to the boat throughout the event.
The Mazda CX-5 proved to be the ideal event support vehicle for Linley Swan. As well as being a welcome sight dockside at the end of each leg, the car’s practical, capable nature ensured it offered indispensable support, whilst maintaining an average fuel consumption of over 45mpg and a reliable service.
Offering good towing capabilities, ample space for kit, and frugal fuel consumption, the Mazda CX-5 is an environmentally friendly SUV with excellent driving credentials to deliver the support crew to each rendezvous dry and in comfort.
“Mazda proved to be the ideal partner for this event,” commented Linley Swan GP Skipper Tom Montgomery-Swan.  “We needed a stylish, economical car capable of towing our RIB whilst delivering on comfort for the crew and practicality for lugging the expanse of kit – all assets we need to address the logistical challenge of moving the RIB safely and at a greatly reduced cost to more traditional towing vehicles.
Montgomery-Swan concludes: “We wanted a vehicle partner which delivered on our brand values of performance and reliability whilst being environmentally friendly, and Mazda has proved its commitment to the environment with its SKYACTIV technology which enables them to produce cars with reduced CO2 emissions whilst using less fuel. This fitted well with our environmental values to preserve the marine landscape by using biodegradable oil and fuel in the boat.”
The Linley Swan GP team and Mazda CX-5 support car can be seen at the Southampton Boat Show on September 13 to 22..