Dredge (left) and Sanderson stand in the cockpit of their Sunseeker XS2000 in front of the Conrad Hotel. (Photos courtesy Barry Pickthall)

Dredge (left) and Sanderson stand in the cockpit of their Sunseeker XS2000 in front of the Conrad Hotel. (Photos courtesy Barry Pickthall)



Fresh from setting six new speed and endurance records in their Sunseeker XS2000 powerboat powered by twin 450-horsepower Yanmar diesel engines, the Ian Sanderson and Peter Dredge will attempt to break the speed record for circumnavigating Great Britain. The current record stands at
42 hours, 54 minutes.

The team hopes to circle the country — 1,600 nautical miles — in 40 hours with three fueling stops. The stops are planned for Bangor, Northern Ireland; Peterhead, Aberdeenshire; and Lowestoft, Suffolk.

"XS Racing Team has been putting together an increasingly difficult series of record attempts this year, as part of a proving process for the Sunseeker/Yanmar engineering package," said Sanderson in a press release from Sunseeker XS racing. "We started in Dubai in January where we became the first team in history to run the full 24-hour record and most recently, we set six new World records from 6 to 24 hours. Round Britain is the next step up but a much bigger challenge."

Backing the driving crew are Simon Wood Power, whose Penn Group has undertaken the technical preparation of the boat and will be masterminding the ground support throughout the KSI Round Britain Challenge, and Paul Stevens, whose Leap Consultancy has been responsible for developing the fitness, psychological and dietary regime for the drivers during the past eight months.

Sponsors include KSI Financial Services Group, Lotus Cars, Reed Travel Exhibitions, Conrad & Hilton Hotels, Barrus/Yanmar, MAN Trucks and Sunseeker International.

Editor's note: Look for the complete story when it happens on boats.com.