The London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony powerboat was fabricated using structural adhesives.
The now world-famous powerboat that was driven up the Thames by David Beckham to bring the Olympic flame to the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony was a Bladerunner BR RIB 35. This unique British fiberglass powerboat was designed and manufactured by ICE Marine Ltd. and fabricated using Scott Bader Crystic® products. The craft’s heritage and racing design pedigree comes from Lorne Campbell, ICE Marine’s chief naval architect, and the 1995 two-liter Powerboat World Champion and Managing Director Jeremy Watts, who was also the Bladerunner driver during the torch handover part of the opening ceremony event.
Bladerunner powerboats are individually handbuilt to order by ICE Marine’s production team. They use both open-mold hand lay-up and vacuum bagging processes. The Bladerunner BR RIB35 laminate design uses a Lloyd’s-approved, Scott-Bader-matched marine system comprised of pigmented Crystic 65PA isophthalic gelcoats combined with Crystic 489PA isophthalic unsaturated polyester back-up resin.