Daredevil left in tears after completing Sydney to Hobart solo in rubber dinghy
A daring Sydney man has braved the 628 nautical mile journey to Tasmania in this year's Sydney to Hobart yacht race all by himself - in just his rubber dinghy.
Unofficial entrant Nathan Rykers, from Miranda, has been labelled "crazy" after following the fleet down the coast on Boxing Day.
But after three days of loneliness, the journey became all too much for Mr Rykers, leaving him broken and in tears on arrival at Hobart's Constitution Dock.
Mr Rykers completed the Sydney to Hobart in a Zodiac boat. It's 20 feet shorter than the smallest yacht in the field and has just 50 horsepower.
When asked why he embarked on the monstrous journey, he told 7 News: "Just see what it was like to battle the famous Sydney to Hobart."
Equipped with three EPIRBs and 200 litres of fuel, Mr Rykers hugged the coastline, refuelling at Eden and Lady Barron, talking to his GoPro camera along the way.
As he entered the Bass Strait overnight, he encountered monster 40-foot waves.
A few hours later, in pitch black and high seas, he jumped in the water to check his engine was running smoothly.
"Chucked my goggles on, jumped in, had a quick sticky beak," he recalled.
But despite the morale-sapping effort, Mr Rykers always maintained a sense of humour.
"As Darryl Kerrigan would say: 'There's nothing like the sound of a two stroke in the morning'," he joked to his GoPro.
The Derwent River, typically the slowest and most difficult part of the race for yachtsmen, was again the scene of a snail-paced battle for the line in this year's race - but for Mr Rykers it was the easiest and fastest part of his ride down to Tasmania.
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"Easy...glass," he laughed.
Despite some labelling Mr Rykers' actions as idiotic, he insists his movements were calculated.
"I have researched this very thoroughly for quite a long time," he said.
Mr Rykers even admitted to being tempted to head back up the coast but the temptations of a warm shower were too much.
