It started in 1996 - a 26' Glacier Bay catamaran, with twin, 90-hp Honda 4-strokes, became the first outboard-powered craft to reach the Bermuda Islands from the US mainland unassisted. A couple years later, Mercury pushed a boat that trimmed over 7 hours off the original record of 37 hours. But now, a 30' Renaissance Prowler 306 catamaran powered by Honda BF225 4-stroke outboards has shattered the previous record by making the run in just 22 hours and 23 minutes.

Dubbed the Bermuda Challenge by Boating magazine, the trip started in Jersey City, New Jersey, and ended in Town Cut, St. George's, Bermuda. The two men making this historic run were Neil Burnie, the boat's owner, and Bill Ratlieff, builder of Renaissance cats. With no escort, the two left Liberty Landing Marina on Thursday, July 17, 2002 at 1:55 pm.

In prepping the boat for launch, Burnie had brought 3 GPS units, which Ratlieff thought might be a bit of overkill. Little did they know how much they would appreciate the backups. Problems with the radar knocked out the main GPS. Now, a few hard decisions had to be made.

They chose to go without the radar and loaded up with 544 gallons of fuel. Because it had taken longer than expected to prep the boat, the men started out about 2 hours later than they had planned. This was particularly important due to the narrow weather window.

Once in open waters, Burnie and Ratlieff encountered stiff, 15- to 17-knot headwinds and solid whitecaps. Running at 37 mph, they were getting beat by wind and 3' to 5' waves. About 20 nautical miles out, one of the backup GPS units made it possible to engage the autopilot to avoid driving for 20+ continuous hours. Now, it was just 640 nm to North Rock, then another 10 nm to Town Cut.

Almost launching out of the water in spite of the weight of the extra fuel, the boat encountered stronger winds, which the weather service had said would be a 10-mph sea breeze. Ratlieff tried to make light of the situation, saying, "Well, if it was easy, everyone would do it." For the next couple hours, things went smoothly, except for dodging the long-line buoys.

The men had been warned that the Gulf Stream is a dangerous stretch because of floating debris, high sea conduct and submerged, 40' freight containers. They would need to be through the Stream before dark, but their late start sabotaged that possibility. About 6 pm, Burnie and Ratlieff noticed some very unusual rips and swells—they were at the edge of the Stream. With the BF225s kicked up to 4,300 rpm, the GPS read 41.6 mph.

Nearly 200 nm out, the men slowed to rig the boat for night. They donned their life jackets and tethered the life raft. With light fading quickly, the Hondas brought the Prowler back up to 43 mph. Conditions were good and it was time to make up some distance.

About 270 nm out, the boat's hull was suddenly rocked by three waves that came from nowhere. Then the boat hit something—something big. It was so dark they couldn't see exactly what the object was, although they surmised it may have been a whale. They had seen several of them feeding before dark. Whatever it was, it also struck the starboard engine. Burnie slowed the boat and, fortunately, both engines were still running.

With the starboard engine stopped and tilted up, Ratlieff shined a spotlight on the lower casing. Both the propeller and lower unit appeared undamaged. Inspection of the bilge showed no leaks in the hull, so they started the engine and took off slowly, taking the boat up to only 38 mph.

An hour later, Burnie noticed that the starboard engine started to rev up, slowing the boat. Perhaps the prop had been damaged after all. Once again, luck was on the boaters' side. Heavy-duty netting had become wrapped around the prop, but quick work with a knife had them on their way again. Midway in the journey, the moon set and the only light the men enjoyed came from the stars and console gauges. The next few hours afforded fairly smooth cruising, as Burnie rested and Ratlieff took the helm.

At sunrise, they were about 220 nm from North Rock and decided to stop the boat to record the moment on film. Burnie remarked that even with all the Hondas had been through, his "babies were still purring like kittens." After recalculating the fuel supply, they again picked up the pace to 37 to 41 mph in 3' to 5' close swells.

At 7 nm out, they finally saw Bermuda. As they approached North Rock, a small fleet of cats met them to take photos and cheer them on. The last 10 nm to Town Cut was no easy task either. It required navigating some of the most treacherous reefs in the area.
On Friday, July 18, 2002, at 1:18 pm, Burnie and Ratlief crossed the finish in waters off Town Cut to become the new record holders of the Bermuda Challenge. What's next? Ratlieff and Burnie have already discussed Miami to Bermuda.

Contact Honda Marine, 4900 Marconi Drive, Alpharetta, GA 30005.