It is no secret Axopar’s award-winning range is taking over the day-boating game as the fastest growing European boat brand on the market. Now with 100 sold in Australia in just three years, this is definitely a brand you want to be familiar with.
Mark Richards, aka Ricko, is known for wanting to go fast — really fast! Having spent the last 22 years skippering Bob Oatley’s yachts, tweaking the 100ft Richel Pugh-designed maxi yacht
Wild Oats, and leading it to many tremendous wins in the Sydney to Hobart Race for a record- breaking 9 times, Ricko couldn’t help himself and has now supercharged his Axopar 24 T-Top. We can’t talk about the horsepower on Mark’s Axopar, but using his expert boat-building skills, in conjunction with the fantastic build and high safety of Axopar boats, Mark has managed to get an outstanding 63 knots top speed.
With four aboard for a joyride through Pittwater in Sydney, we hit 60 knots and lost the drone within 5 seconds of what felt like a Boeing 747 take off… the eYacht crew, Peter, Joe and Marnie, could not stop smiling.
The upgrades may have started with the engine, but eYachts Managing Director, Peter Hrones, continued checking the boat and noticing more small modifications with the T-Top including bracing underneath the canopy battens and extra spectra rope strapped down to the deck. The boat was so smooth in a 5 to 10 knot wind, and at 40knots cruising, we could still talk normally around the cockpit with just a beautiful smooth engine sound in the background. And at 60 knots approx 112kph, we had no rattles whatsoever.
Mark is the founder of Palm Beach motor yachts, Australia’s dream boat, and now CEO
of Grand Banks. He has been a great advocate for Axopar and has a real passion for the brand. Mark genuinely loves talking about his Axopar which he has owned for 2-plus years now and has no interest in changing in the near future.
So what does this multi-award winning skipper use his ridiculously speedy Axopar for? Well, if he can get to his destination by water, he will. With a waterfront property in Newport in New South Wales, it’s only an 8-minute zip around the corner to the famous Hawkesbury River and into Americas Bay. Or when he needs to get to training, he will zoom out the heads and offshore getting into Sydney Harbour at a stunning time of approximately 30 minutes, avoiding the horrendous traffic and taking a far more fun and scenic route. And when he has a party to attend at a waterfront property, Mark won’t hesitate to take the Axopar over a car with the added bonus of being able to sleep aboard rather than having to find a way home. He has now slept on board around five times, probably the most any Axopar 24 owner ever has.
Caution: Please note that Axopar do not recommend its owners making modifications to the CE certified certificated Axopars and the maximum recommended HP tested under CE certification. Mark being a very qualified boat builder and designer understands that his modifications have now voided any warranty by the factory. Mark has done his own investigations and calculations before supercharging his Axopar.
By Marnie Ebeling
Published in the Jan-Mar 2020 edition.
