By Ross Karl
Crossing the Cook Strait is bumpy at the best of times, but to do it at 220km/h requires a cast iron constitution.
That is what Warren Lewis and Chris Hanley of the Fairview Windows superboat team did today - stripping 10 minutes off the old record for a return trip from Wellington by finishing in one hour and 33 minutes.
But on a choppy day on the water it almost didn't happen.
“When we left the heads here we almost pulled the plug,” says Lewis. “It was that rough.”
Lewis, a two-time New Zealand offshore powerboating champion was a touch apprehensive as they prepared to leave Wellington, but he was soon chasing his boat's top speed of 219km/h.
Despite the less than perfect conditions they arrived in Picton on course to break Kevin Green's 1984 record, checked in with the harbour master, and headed back.
The two big block V8s couldn't take them to top speed, but 1000 horsepower made the ferries look pedestrian.
The pair don’t have any plans to do it again.
“A boat racer by the name of Peter Knight wrote a book and said never, ever break your own record, that's when you hurt yourself,” says Lewis.
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