Exiting the Barrenjoey Heads with only the dim street lamps and the homes of early risers dotting the shores. It was not long before the crew we greeted by the day with an exceptional sunrise and silky sea that reflected yellow and orange hues. As visibility increased so did the speed, increasing from 30 to a consistent 40 knots.

With an Easterly swell and only a slight wind chop, the stunning start to the day had hopes high for a smooth sail up the coast. At the 2 hour mark the BRABUS 900 flew past the Nelson Bay entrance and right on the 5 hour mark the team entered Port Macquarie with 100 litres of fuel to spare. This was the perfect place for a quick half hour break for a fuel top up and  a bite to eat.

As the day progressed so did the swell, increasing to between 1-1.5 metres with 5-15kt easterly. Later as they approached Yamba the swell shifted to the nor-east reaching over 2 metres, it was certainly a messy end to the trip.

In total the trip was 300nm (550km) and took 9 and a half hours, although we don’t know whether this has broken any records we are pretty sure no other 37ft boat would be averaging 30-40 knots consistently all day offshore.

Final remarks…

Peter – “There is nothing really better that goes through the water is there that goes through the water in this size.”

Dean – “Not in a 37 foot boat in that chop, I’ve been more uncomfortable in 65 footers in that”.

Peter – “It doesn’t make sense does it, to be able to do that speed in that horrible sloppy, choppy 15 knot nor-easter. Those engines too are just purring at  25-30 knots… I mean 40knots it purs but you couldn’t even hear them at 25-30. She’s a beautiful boat. Weapon, that’s her new name!

Joe – “The boat went incredibly offshore, we were in such comfort, the boat handled amazingly, really good fun to drive, we had a really great trip.”