Houhoura, New Zealand – Brisbane, Australia

Departure: May 2012
Total Distance: 1229nm
Total Moving Time: 53.5 hours
Average speed leg 1: 23.5knots
Fuel: 8,920 litres

In May 2012 Dave Pachoud and a team of 5 mates took Voodoo from New Zealand to Sanctuary Cove on the Gold Coast in Australia. Part of the reason for this trip was to show just how efficient the whole boat, engine, drive and foil package was.

With the impressive combination of a hydrofoil used with the asymmetric hull shape, the 58ft Voodoo ploughed through any rough conditions thrown at her, delivering one of the smoothest and powerful of rides across the Tasman on record.

Leaving from Houhora at 3pm on Sunday, Dave and the team blasted across the 76nm’s to the Three Kings at 25 knots despite the 15kt wind and 3m swell. Arriving at sunset at the Three Kings Islands we stopped in Northwest bay and caught a dozen nice sized snapper – kept 6 for eating – and one huge Trevally for sashimi.

Departing the Kings at 9:30pm Sunday we powered through the night, 255nm to the Whanganella Banks, arriving at first light Monday morning. This 11 hour stage was at an average of 23 knots in wind of 20-30kts and a 3-4m swell. For a short period we experienced the sea building over the banks themselves, but hardly noticed as we trolled 40nm’s of it with 2 lures out. We had 12 strikes, 6 hook ups and brought  2 big Striped and one huge Blue Marlin in to the boat in just 4 hours!

We left the Whanganellas at 2pm the same day for the smooth 410nm run to Lord Howe Island.

During the early hours of the morning, in the total absence of any unnatural light the sky completely cleared revealing the Milky Way in a sky full of countless stars all the way down to the horizon.

The wind died and the sea turned to mirrored glass, perfectly reflecting the sky down to the tiniest pinprick of light from the farthest star. With stars in every direction we looked we felt the truly amazing and indescribable sensation that we were floating through the infinite depths of space.

The sun rose, filling the sky with brilliant shades of orange and pink as Balls Pyramid came into view on the horizon. We arrived at Balls Pyramid just after light at 7am local time on Tuesday. Leg three had taken 18.5 hours for an average speed of 22 knots. We couldn’t resist the opportunity for another fish at such a unique and stunning location and at Balls Pyramid we caught four monster Kingfish before the sharks came up. We kept two for eating and after filleting we put one of the bodies over for a close up video of the sharks feeding with the Go Pro camera. We stopped for brunch and a cruise around the towering Pyramid – which stands 562m high! – before heading in to the island around midday.

After entering the turquoise waters of the beautiful shallow lagoon and tying up at the wharf we took the opportunity to stretch our legs, with a nice walk on the beach – including a stop for an ice-cream. The total fuel burn so far, 5900L for 792nm travelled, so an average fuel burn of only 7.47 L/nm. We refuelled and spent the afternoon in the lagoon cooking up our fresh fish. This pristine and beautiful place definitely made all of our visit again lists!

Departing Lord Howe at dusk (6pm local time, 7:30NZST) into a gentle 5kt wind and southerly 1m swell, we cruised the first 9 hours at a quick 26kts. This was upped to a roaring 30 knots for the last 7 hours of the 448nm leg. Thanks to the speed we arrived in Brisbane at 9:30am local time on Wednesday, with an average leg speed of 28kts and fuel burn 6.7L/nm.

The trip from Houhoura to Brisbane, a total of 1229nm, had seen Voodoo burn 8920L of diesel at a very efficient average of 7.29L/nm. The total motoring time, including trolling at the Whanganellas and fishing at Balls Pyramid was 53.5hrs, with an average speed of 23.5 knots.

This amazingly fast and comfortable trip brought us to Brisbane only 2 and a half days after we had left, including a dozen Snapper and a large Trev at the Three Kings, 3 Marlin at the Whanganellas, 4 monster Kingi’s at Balls Pyramid, a walk on the beach at Lord Howe and an ice-cream!