Tracking
Date: June 1988
Time: 19 hours 17 minutes 27 seconds
Route: Government Cut (Miami) → Ambrose Tower (New York Harbor) — 1,257 statute miles
Driver: Tom Gentry
Vessel: Gentry Eagle — 112-foot aluminum hull, built by Vosper Thornycroft
Power: Twin 3,480-hp MTU turbo diesels + 4,500-hp Lycoming turbine = 11,500 total horsepower
Award: Motor Boating & Sailing Chapman Trophy for fastest Miami-to-New York time
Note: Gentry broke the previous record of 19:31:27 set by Colombian George Morales in 1985. The Gentry Eagle would go on to set the Blue Riband transatlantic record in 1989 (62h 7m 47s, New York to Bishop Rock). She also held the New York-to-Miami and Florida-to-Bahamas records. The vessel was scrapped in 2022 after decades of neglect — one of the most storied powerboats ever built, broken up for scrap.
Video: Gentry Eagle documentary (footage from the 1989 transatlantic record run)
Date: 1985
Time: 19 hours 31 minutes 27 seconds
Driver: George Morales (Colombian)
Vessel: Maggie's MerCruiser Special — 50' Cougar
Note: Held the record for three years until Tom Gentry's Gentry Eagle beat it by just 14 minutes in 1988. Morales's time demonstrated that sub-20-hour runs were possible on the route — it took an 11,500-hp purpose-built machine to edge him out.
Date: June 22, 1964
Time: 31 hours 32 minutes
Route: 1,257 statute miles — Miami to New York
Crew: Charles F. Johnson, Sam Sarra, Don Wilson, Jack Stevens
Vessel: Daytona TX-41, 41-foot sport-fishing boat
Power: Turbocharged V-8 engines, 375 hp each (Sam Sarra's tandem engine design)
Top Speed: 60+ mph (smooth water)
Note: The original record that established the route as a legitimate challenge. Sam Sarra was Chief Engineer at Daytona Boat Works and had perfected the 427 c.i. turbocharged Daytona Chevy racing engine. This time stood for over 17 years. A monohull sport-fishing boat running the offshore Atlantic at 60+ mph in 1964 — a different kind of courage.
Date: July 2023
Time: 35 hours 44 minutes 33 seconds
Driver: Mike Howe
Navigator: Sarah Howe
Vessel: 2023 MTI 440X Open Cockpit catamaran
Engines: Mercury Racing 500R outboards
Top Speed: 104 mph
Average Moving Speed: 70.48 mph
Conditions: 1–5 foot seas, 0–25 knot winds
Verification: Dual GPS KML files, real-time data logged
Note: Part of the Howes' legendary Maine-to-Key-West weekend run (1,768 miles total, 76h 53m 40s). The NYC-to-Miami segment set the outboard engine record for the route. Mike and Sarah also hold records for Maine-to-NYC (5:34:12) and NYC-to-Hatteras (5:44:09). The Howes document everything on their Howe2Live YouTube channel.
Video: Howe2Live NYC-to-Miami run
Date: 1985
Time: 19 hours 31 minutes 27 seconds
Driver: George Morales (Colombian)
Vessel: Maggie's MerCruiser Special — 50' Cougar
Note: Held the inboard record for three years until Gentry beat it by 14 minutes in 1988.
Date: May 2001
Time: 2 days 5 hours 55 minutes 8 seconds
Route: Miami → New York City
Skipper: Steve Fossett
Crew: International crew of 12
Vessel: PlayStation — 125-foot (38m) maxi catamaran
Previous Record: 2d 22h 50m — Bruno Peyron & Cam Lewis aboard Data Explorer (1999)
Note: Fossett beat the previous mark by nearly 17 hours. PlayStation capped 2001 with five world sailing records including the transatlantic crossing (4d 17h 28m 6s, Ambrose Light to Lizard Point). Average speed on the transatlantic: 25.78 knots. Fossett, an adventurer who held records in sailing, ballooning, and aviation, disappeared over Nevada in 2007.
Video: PlayStation catamaran transatlantic attempt (AP footage of Fossett's transatlantic run)
