You may have read this interview before, however seeing how just unbelievably cool it is, we’ve decided to do something we’ve never before done… Re-Publish an interview. Before our interview was published in 2 parts, but now you can read it in it’s entirety right here in one post! Perhaps the only thing more amazing then the XSR48, is the man behind it. With 11 Worlds record broken and the founder of XSMG World Ltd, he is without any doubt in a class of his own….
Not very long ago we brought you the news about a fantastic new watercraft, the XSR48 Super Boat. With a top speed of 85 knots, 1900 horsepower and a 2.5 million dollar price tag this is without any doubt the ultimate motorboat. Well after featuring the XSR48, we knew we wanted to know more. So we emailed the wonderful people over at XSMG World Ltd and got things rolling. Before long we were talking with Ian Sanderson the CEO and Founder of XSMG World Ltd. Now we’re pleased to bring you this world exclusive interview with Ian, enjoy!
-Jef Price Editor/Co-Founder NC
(NC)Thanks for talking with us Ian, Now I understand you have an extensive background in power sports, Could you tell us a little about that? I mean you’ve broken 11 world records right?
(IDS) It’s been a passion since I was a kid, going fast in anything,go-karting, sports cars, top drive was a Porsche 962 full works spec, but was introduced to powerboats by my uncle at just 12 years old and instantly loved going fast, rough water, boat constantly airborne, I was addicted; bought my first race boat at age of 18, for fun and posing rather than racing, actually raced almost by accident, a friend had a small 16ft race boat with a 90hp Mercury outboard (running 115hp illegally!!!) having broken his leg in a race asked me to helm for him for two races; I was fast, a little dangerous – first race to last race, over 15 years apart, I loved the challenge and never went back to cars (racing anyway – life is lived on a race track everyday in whatever vehicle I drive)
As a professional I was always an analytical racer, acepted from day one the principle to win you had to finish, but I was always the passionate and emotive one in the race boat, so my limits were always close to the limit, but controlled!!!
First race was farcical – the navigator was inexperienced – at the first turn mark in a 10 lap one hour race, I asked for directions over the intercom, and he told me “we never work out the course as we are never in the lead, didn’t know it could go this fast!!” – my emotional side got the better of me as we let the rest of the field pass us by so we could follow the rest – suffice to say, we never raced together again… Second race I had a girlfriend navigate, girls are good with detail and planning, we won that race – I was hooked…to the boat….
Always orientated towards long distance racing, endurance, later in my career, having had a break for a few years to run my sports marketing and event business, had the time of my life focusing on a programme of world endurance and speed records – having teamed up with the world’s best navigator/helm Peter Dredge, we created Sunseeker XS Racing, used a Fabio Buzzi hulled Sunseeker XS 2000, which enabled us to win in racing at every level, and set 11 world speed records in 2001; the world records programme was the most intense challenge imaginable – the world 24 hour speed record, set in the UK in July 2001, where we averaged a speed of 52.74 mph in covering 1100 nautical miles in a day; this record that stands out as the highlight of my sporting career; it is simply not possible to describe the level of human attrition of running day and night fast in a powerboat, it is hardcore, and for adrenalin rush running 80 mph+ in the dark was a serious play….
We intend to attempt this record in our XSR48 Superboat, but sitting down… 1100 nautical miles, equivalent to 1230 road miles – I challenge anyone to go and do that in a car in one run and say it is not hard; in a powerboat, it is like taking a ride to hell, and back to hell – I cant wait to have our next crack at this record. Peter was an amazing driver, I have never met anyone as stoic and resilient.
Assuming my aging body will agree to participate, my one main ambition on the records front is the Global Circumnavigation world record for powered craft, round the world the long way around, when economics allow us XSMG will attempt this record – in the meantime, I would love to take an XSR48 Superboat in record spec around America,maybe from LA to New York, imagine what an amazing adventure that would be, down the west coast, into Mexico, through the Panama Canal, up the east side, imagine the party when we arrived at the NYK Yacht Club – if any of your readers are inclined to join us, I have the fastest endurance records boat in the world ready to play, just need the backing (sponsor) and some experienced USA based crew who fancy a challenge and know the way!!! I believe it is about 11,000 nautical miles, we have had lots of media interest in doing it, including an offer of coverage from CNN, so bring it on….
(NC)And now your the founder and CEO of XSMG World, this is pretty amazing stuff you guys are up too over there, what inspired you to take what many may consider to be a great risk, by designing such a ground breaking craft?
(IDS) I think one line on the design paper really encapsulated the drive to technically reinvent the wheel in marine terms, our challenge was to “create a powerboat with the characteristics, passion and DNA of a Supercar;” I had always stayed close to the car industry, always been a passionate owner of various toy cars, in fact we were sponsored as a team by Porsche for some years, but it was reading Gordon Murray’s book on the design of the McLaren F1 Supercar that set the scene for us all; we asked each member of the design team to identify one view of a Supercar that inspired them, mine was the view in the drivers side door mirror, looking back over the rear haunches of a 911…. I wanted XSR48 to have a sexy arse!!
We also studied the concept car design arena in massive detail, and challenged ourselves to bring our ultimate concept to market; it has always frustrated me, and I am sure a host of car designers, that most car company’s show astonishing designs as concepts, and neutralise them before they get to market – I have to say that Christian Koenigsegg’s work with the Koenigsegg CCX Supercar was also one of my inspirations, the purity of his engineering and design is incredible. Unlike the Bugatti Veyron, which is completely over-engineered, in English they say a sledge hammer to crack a nut… We wanted our engineering technology and aesthetics combined to position us as truly unique, a word so often misused particularly in exclusive brand or product marketing.
In technology terms the biggest defining moment was committing to building a total composite solution vessel, the XSR48 is built entirely in kevlar and composite; one of the key drivers for this commitment was the dual application of the vessel, super luxury retail in the Supercar mould you have to have state of the art technology, but we also wanted to apply the design to commercial and governmental arenas as a high performance interceptor vessel, and composites have significant upsides including better ballistics resistance levels. XSR48 is the world’s first composite monocoque powerboat, the fastest diesel powered production boat in the world (in the Guiness Book of World Records) and from experience I can tell you it has the best performance stabilised handling of any boat in the world…. Its stats are sexy too… 1600 hp standard, up to 2500 hp for those inclined… I am most proud of its purity in engineering terms, it may look beautiful on the outside, but it’s real beauty is within, designed for purpose, and I think that is why we have been winning prestigious design and innovation awards around the world. We recently beat the amazing Honda Jet to an exclusive toys award in the Gulf… And the Fiat 500 (World Car of the Year 2008) in another global award from Conde Nast publishing.
XSR48 has an incredible list of unique selling points; in terms of assessing the risk of breaking new ground, its to early to tell how big a risk it is commercially, but for sure the technical risk has already passed, the boat is proven – we have just completed a 2500 nautical mile endurance test on our military prototype averaging 56 knots over six days, I cannot believe there is another boat in its class anywhere in the world which can get even close to running this fast consistently in challenging conditions: even now it is surreal to be onboard, it really is a Superboat.
(NC)Did you know about designing boats went you began this project, or was it a completely new venture for you?
(IDS) it was a completely new venture for me, an acute learning curve, so I quickly assembled a team of world class design and engineering partners, some from marine and some from the car sector; the concept was born from my dream, but there was an extensive team of brilliant people with a wide sphere of knowledge to apply to the design process; the level of innovation was set from day one by defining we would create a boat will all the emotion and characteristics of a Supercar; given our racing and records background it was almost a given that performance would be awesome, but we exceeded expectation by a massive margin. I wanted our ‘concept model’ to be the product we actually built, if you look at the final design sketches, we did exactly that. The design process was an amazing adventure in itself, but equally as fascinating was the technical and structural development of XSR48. The statistics speak for themselves, the first carbon monocoque powerboat, structured for shock loading of 50G through the bow, 20G plus through the cockpit, the wind shield is strong enough to resist 12,000 kilos per square meter, the suspension seat bases 3,500 kilos of loading…. But more than anything the aesthetic shape of the boat was a labour of love. It has been really rewarding to see the boat applauded across all markets for its unique DNA. I would love to design another vehicle, perhaps in an entirely different market, as long as we can start from a clean sheet of paper.
(NC)One thing I have to ask before we let you go, is the gadget question, So Ian, are you a gadget guy? And if so, is there one that just outshines all the rest in your arsenal?
(IDS) Yes absolutely a gadget guy; choosing one is impossible, but what I really appreciate having designed my own BIG gadget/toy, is engineering and technical solutions which are not engineered for the sake of it, but because they work and exceed expectation – so for example I’m not a fan of the Bugatti Veyron, because you should never need a 3000 hp engine, two gear boxes and clutches and 18 radiators to get 1000 hp to the wheels of a car – so inefficient.. but in reverse I love the Koenigsegg CCX for its purity and beauty and its efficiency in engineering and power, it is a true Supercar. I love my Blackberry Bold for the exact same reasons; but my ultimate favourite piece of gadgetry/engineering is my watch from Van Der Bauwede, a niche Swiss watch designer/manufacturer; I always want things that are different, so owning a Rolex is simply not me, but I loved my VDB GT Vintage watch so much we persuaded them to develop a new watch with the same ethos as the XSR48…. It was amazing to find the union of designers crosses all boundaries…. I get the first one very soon….
(NC)Thanks again for taking the time to speak with us Ian
(IDS) It is a real honour for us to be seen to be ‘Necessary Cool’ – we will get the XSR to the USA latter part of this year, it was one of my ambitions to drive the boat into the New York Yacht Club…. Hope we get to meet the Necessary Cool team there…. IAN SANDERSON
For more info & more breath taking photos of XSMG Worls Ltd, please visit their site atwww.xsmgworld.com