A TEAM from Hampshire has broken the world record for circumnavigating Ireland in a power boat.

Marc Lyne and Dean Watson set off from Crookhaven carrying over 700 litres of fuel to make the 808-mile trip, which took them 18 hours and 12 minutes.

Mr Lyne, from Winchester, said: “We had to make sure we could carry enough fuel because western Ireland is inhospitable with few places to refuel, so we had to make sure we could make it 330 miles until we could pick up more fuel at Port Rush.

“It was a bit hairy at the start because we were carrying all the fuel at that point and the sea wasn’t very kind to us.”

The team took three years to prepare for the attempt, not only constructing the boat - a stripped back Scorpion rigid inflatable boat, made in Lymington, with light weight batteries provided by Romsey-based specialist battery manufacturer DMS technology - but also for the weather.

“It took three years to prepare the boat but we also needed the right weather. These kinds of records are never broken when the seas are rough.

“We had to wait for high pressure to settle over Ireland and give us the mirror calm sea we needed.”

Mr Lyne, said that he believes he could have shaved another three hours off their time if the seas had not become rough when the pair reached Cork.

“There were heavy seas so the last leg which should have taken only an hour ended up taking us almost three.

“Dean got bashed about a lot and hurt his knee on one of the seats.”

The 50-year-old digital director said that his next goal is to attempt to set circumnavigation records in a fully electric powered boat.

“The days of it being acceptable to burn 1,000 litres of fuel for fun are numbered.

“I want to take this new technology and create a boat that can break these records in an environmentally-friendly way.

“The challenge will be constructing a boat that can do this, and the adventure will be trying to be the first to break these records.”