'Flying Pirate' bids to smash cross-Tasman speed record

"Flying pirate" Ginger Gibbs is confident of smashing a 45-year-old Tasman Sea speed record in his 12.5m powerboat.

The Aucklander is looking to eclipse the feat of the P&O liner Oriana in 1961 on a journey from Sydney to Auckland.

Gibbs says the Oriana's time of 47 hours appears to be the last entry in the record books for a transtasman crossing. He believes he and his crew of engineer Paul Rix and navigator Adam Wickes can cut the mark to about 30 hours.

"We're very confident we'll get to the finish and be pretty close to the ballpark," he said yesterday.

"Nailing it down to exactly how long is a different issue. You don't have to have a lot of bad weather to slow you down.

"If we had really nice, calm weather, we could do it in less than 30 hours. If the weather is average, it will be over 30 hours."

Gibbs and his crew plan not only to break the Oriana's record, which is for the 1262 nautical miles from Sydney Heads to Rangitoto lighthouse.

In their "Bridge-to-Bridge Challenge", they also want to establish a new mark for the slightly longer distance of 1275 miles between the Sydney and Auckland Harbour Bridges.

Gibbs' boat, Swashbucklers, named after the restaurant he owns at Westhaven Marina, was launched last week and has been undergoing sea trials.

It will be shipped to Sydney this month, with the record attempt to start about March 8, depending on the weather.

Gibbs hopes to cross the finish line during the Auckland International Boat Show, which runs from March 8 to 12.

He said Swashbucklers, powered by two 350-horsepower motors, would have a top speed of 52 knots, but was expected to average 40 knots during the non-stop crossing.

Gibbs plans to leave Sydney in the calmer pre-dawn conditions, with his boat fully laden with 3800 litres of diesel.

He intends driving hard for 12 to 15 hours, before easing off during night sailing for safety reasons.

Gibbs said he had raced offshore powerboats and has made numerous transtasman crossings on ships.

"But I've never done something that has taken this much planning."

- NZPA