It is not every day that a local sailor gets to experience 'the ride of his life' abroad a state-of-the art Super Maxi helmed by one most esteemed sailors in the world.

But this is exactly what happened to 20-year-old sailor Rockal Evans who recently had the honour of sailing Alex Jackson's Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed 100 foot maxi appropriately dubbed Speedboat.

Speedboat was officially launched in Auckland, New Zealand, last April and two months later was the first boat to complete the 635- nautical mile Newport to Bermuda Race.

In October Jackson's modern marvel made an unscheduled pit stop in Bermuda after tearing her main sail in high seas during a second attempt to shatter the existing Trans-Atlantic record (six days, 17 hours, 52 minutes and 39 seconds) set by the twin-masted schooner Mari-Cha IV in 2003.

It was during a lengthy stay in Bermuda when Evans, grandson of former Olympic sailor Howard Lee, was afforded the chance of a lifetime to experience the thrill of sailing abroad a boat built with only one purpose in mind - speed!

"When the boat was here for repairs I was working on the bottom of it every other day, wiping it down so that no growth would get on it.

"It all started from there and when the offer from my boss (Bermuda Marine Services owner Tim Patton) came to sail her back to Florida, I hopped on it," Evans smiled.

With one ocean crossing and considerable years of sailing expertise in various classes under his belt, naturally, Evans came highly qualified for the job.

"I did the maiden voyage on the Spirit of Bermuda and so I already had experience sailing on bigger vessels.

"I was very happy and excited to have received this wonderful opportunity," he added.

Built by Mick Cookson, Speedboat appears fast standing still in the water and her radical underwater features and amazingly flat run aft enable it to attain startling speeds reaching. Speedboat's rig is also the ultimate collaboration of latest design thinking and innovation in rig technology.

"She is fast and furious . . . it's like doing the same speed as the breeze sailing at certain angles. We were reaching doing about 20 knots in breezes that were only about 20 knots.

She surfs off the waves," Evans exclaimed.

Joined onboard by another Bermudian, Kevin Horsefield, Evans set sail from Bermuda November 30 and arrived in Florida December 3.

Though the experience only lasted three days, the voyage did have its share of challenging moments, which put Evans' skills to the test.

"We did encounter a couple of squalls and one night it got very bumpy in 30 knot breezes and ten-foot seas," he recalled.

En route to Florida Evans and his fellow crewmates were given multiple tasks onboard ranging from helming, trimming the main sail and watching out for other ships and potentially hazardous floating debris.

"We worked in three hours shifts and this went on for 24 hours a day," he said.

In July of this year Speedboat aborted a first trans-Atlantic record attempt after damaging a dagger board with skipper Mike Sanderson at the helm.

Sanderson was also abroad the super maxi along with UK billionaire Sir Richard Branson during October's failed second attempt at the record.

Ironically, Sanderson set the existing trans-Atlantic record abroad Mari-Cha IV five-years ago.

Now safely back in US territory, Speedboat's crew will turn their attention to next February's Royal Ocean Racing Club's (RORC) inaugural Caribbean 600 Race when the super maxi will be put to the test against other rivals in her class.

The 605-nautical mile RORC Caribbean 600 Race begins February 23, 2009 off Fort Charlotte outside English Harbour, Antigua.

The course takes the fleet to the north passing a mark off Barbuda, the islands of Nevis, Saba and St Barths, to circle St Martin before heading down to Guadeloupe as the most southerly point, then back up to a mark off Barbuda before returning to finish in Antigua.