The  Arksen 30 adventure boat showed off its extreme high-performance capabilities on UK television recently after it starred as the perfect “cool and mean looking” vessel in a high-speed boat chase on the final episode of the latest series of Channel 4’s Celebrity Hunted .

As the season-closing episode came to a thrilling conclusion, the stunning rugged adventure boat was shown being chased by two jet skis and a special forces RIB, while onboard the show’s winning celebrities popped champagne in luxurious surroundings.

The action, which was filmed two years ago, was shot off the coast of Devon in South West England and involved Arksen skipper Ben Bowley, piloting the 30 , and first mate Paddy Ridley, who was tasked with laying chase in the Ring Vampire experimental RIB.

“I’d never done a film shoot before, so it was quite an eye opener,” recalled Ridley. “I had two mates on jet skis mounted on the back of the Vampire, all dressed up in black balaclavas and helmets to look like members of the SBS, and my partner shoved them off the back. 

“It was all set up when the person who developed the whole Arksen Adventure Series was approached by Shine TV , who make a lot of programmes for Channel 4. They were looking for some cool boats – and the spotted the Arksen 30 online.

“They were originally just looking for the hero boat then they heard about the Vampire and how it was developed as a testbed for a special forces RIB and they loved it, so they decided to go with that too, using it as one of the Hunters’ boats.”

Making Celebrity Hunted

The show, which is now in its sixth series, involves 12 famous faces who ‘go fugitive’ and are challenged to survive 14 days on the run from an elite team of ‘hunters.’ Those who are left with 48 hours remaining are given a location to try to get to before they are caught.

In this latest series, the extraction point was a little bay on called Burgh Island, which is a few hundred meters off the coast and only accessed on a sea tractor. The ‘fugitives’ then had to reach the Arksen 30 by rowing boat and those who made it sped off into the distance. 

“All of that end point is not scripted at all,” says Ridley. “We thought it would be pretty much organised action, but actually the producers had no idea how many of the fugitives would make it and what would happen in the end! 

“We could hear them on the radio saying ‘oh my God, they're about to get all of them and we'll have no finale!’ Then the Vampire comes around the corner, right at the last second, and launches jet skis and there's a big chase to the finish. It was brilliant fun!”

The ultimate high-performance adventure boat

The Arksen 30 was not chosen at random, it was selected because it was pretty much the only boat the production team could find that was rugged enough to cope with the shot they wanted, with the level of manoeuvrability needed to make the chase look realistic.

The vessel, the green 03 edition which now lives in Jersey, proved more than capable and Ridley adds: “The performance and agility of the Arksen 30 is what made that final shot possible, with it powering off into the distance, jet skis in chase. 

“It’s such a good seakeeping boat, it was able to just put the power down through some decent waves and there was no chance of the Vampire keeping up with it. It’s a cool looking boat – really smart and also a little bit villainous. 

“The fact that it could just put the power down and disappear is what makes it really impressive. In reality, with two big jet skis chasing after it, it would never be able to get away, but you could very easily put it in such a way that it was believable. 

High-speed boat chase

“The jet skis were going flying, the Vampire just wasn't powerful enough to keep up with it, but the Arksen 30 was just cutting straight through the sea,” continues Ridley. “The waves were flying around and the boat looking stable and strong, just pushing through it all. 

“It produced a really impressive shot in the end and most boats of that type would not have been able to cope with it – but also, the celebrities are used to being flown off in helicopters or luxury yachts, and the interior of the 30 is ideal – very luxurious, very celebrity-suitable.”

The filming took place in the middle of summer, in the middle of popular holiday destination Hope Cove, with hundreds of people looking on – and that gave the crew the chance to have a bit of fun during the process, too.

“We turned up at this picturesque little seaside village in a massive black RIB with jet skis on the back, dressed in balaclavas,” smiles Ridley. “When we got off, we drove it up the beach and got some ice creams – and everyone was looking at us like we were crazy!

“It was only about a two-minute segment and we spent three or four days down there to film it! We didn't get to meet any of the celebrities, but we did get to meet all the hunters, who were great fun, and it was a very memorable thing to be involved in!”

Celebrity Hunted can be viewed online in the UK on Channel 4: www.channel4.com/programmes/celebrity-hunted