On September 18, Captains Dustin Kidd and March Crutcher set a new speed record by completing the 4,280-mile Great Loop in 11 day, 21 hours and 51 minutes. They circled the loop aboard a brand new Highfield Sport 800 inflatable named White Lightning powered by twin Yamaha 200 outboards.
Popular with long-range cruisers, the Great Loop is a waterway circuit that circumnavigates the Eastern U.S. and parts of Eastern Canada. White Lightning beat the previous Great Loop Record of 12 days, 18 hours and 10 minutes, set in 2025 by Peter Hajas and crew on Lady Lor, by 20 hours and 19 minutes.
The new record is especially notable because White Lightning is a 26’8″, aluminum-hull Highfield Boats RIB with 400 total horsepower, compared with Lady Lor, a 40 foot fiberglass Contender powered by triple 350hp outboards.
Kidd and Crutcher departed Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River on September 6. Judging from the electronic logs kept in their chart plotter, White Lightning averaged 15 knots for the trip while underway. The key to their success was the combination of the light-weight Highfield hull, with an aluminum bottom and inflated RIB tubes, and the efficiency of the Yamahas.
The combination meant the team could run twice as far on full tanks of gas as Peter Hajas’ Lady Lor and thus had to make rough half as many fuel stops.
One of the trip’s highlights, Kidd and Cutcher said, was motoring into New York Harbor on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. “The feeling in the air was amazing coming into that harbor at that time.”
After completing the arduous 12-day journey and breaking the record, the co-captains reflected on the experience.
“The Great Loop tests every part of a boat and every part of a crew. White Lightning gave us the combination of strength, performance and versatility we needed, while the twin Yamaha 200s delivered the power and confidence to keep moving. Crossing our wake at Kentucky Dam was an unforgettable moment,” said Capt. Kidd.
