Record Breaking Powerboat Comes to Edinburgh

by Sue McKichan on 21 Mar 2003 A unique opportunity to see ‘The Drambuie Ice Breaker’ at the International Festival of The Sea, which is being held in Leith, Edinburgh between 23rd and 26th May this year.

Drambuie, the world’s favourite whisky liqueur, synonymous with sponsorship of some of the world’s most exciting sporting activities, brings one of its record breaking Scarab powerboats to Leith over the course of this four day maritime extravaganza.

‘The Drambuie Ice Breaker’ is a monster 46ft Scarab powered by two Caterpillar 3126 diesel engines, capable of producing 840 BHP and reaching speeds of up to 60mph/52knots. One of three Drambuie On Ice sponsored powerboats, and registered as ‘Drambuie Challenger’, she was built in 1986 as a record-breaker, a boat built specifically - and successfully - to capture international offshore endurance records.

She established a new record during the 1990 “Assault on The Great Lakes” race beginning in Chicago and ending in Detroit, 607 miles and 12 hours later, with the actor and race enthusiast Chuck Norris at the helm. She broke the record again in 1992.

Later in the same year Kyle Petty took the helm and set a new record in the “Sun Coast to Gold Coast” offshore challenge from Tampa to Miami covering 320 miles in just over 6 hours. Other well-known stars to have been at the helm of ‘The Drambuie Ice Breaker’ include Michael Douglas and Danny De Vito.

She has been followed by Drambuie Tantalus, which smashed the UK circumnavigation record in 1992, and Drambuie On Ice, the current double World Champion APBA Class 1 offshore racer.

See ‘The Drambuie Ice Breaker’ and sample a ‘Drambuie Ice Breaker’ cocktail at Zinc Bar and Grill, Ocean Terminal, Edinburgh during the International Festival of The Sea from 23rd to 26th May 2003.