Mr Macpherson took on the job of sailing the yacht Palandri Wines Minds Eye back to Geographe Bay after the boat had competed in the Sydney to Hobart and the Skandia Geelong Week.

He said the journey had been a huge trip covering 2000 nautical miles.

“We had stops at Kangaroo Island, Ceduna and Esperance plus an unscheduled stop at Albany for repairs and because one of the crew members was a bit seasick,” he said.

Mr Macpherson had an average of four crew members with some getting on and off at various locations.

Peter Murphy from Margaret River and Adam Morrison from Bunbury were part of the crew along with a couple of others from Kalgoorlie and Adelaide.

He said it was hard work sailing it across the ocean because it is a racing yacht and very light.

“There was also no auto-helm which meant there was someone sailing it 24 hours a day,” he said.

“There were some real challenges during the trip including sailing across the Great Australian Bite.

“Rather than hugging the coast we chose to cut straight across the bite meaning we were up to 95 miles (153kms) away from land at times, on a very small boat all on our own.

“There were also some close calls with ships as we couldn’t guarantee they’d know we were there.

“We had to rely on their lights to avoid them.

“The large seas also meant we had to slow down when surfing the waves.

“We spent four days with the main sail down and just used a storm trysail and the head sail.”

Mr Macpherson said it was a great opportunity to build up his experience running deliveries for yachts.

The owners of the boat had chosen to sail the boat back as it would be more cost effective than trucking.

“It’s the second longest trip I’ve done after the Durban to Fremantle and the longest trip I’ve done as skipper,” he said.

“It was great to sail virtually the whole distance with only six hours of motoring.

“One great highlight was seeing schools of dolphins with 40-50 at a time running alongside the boat.

“Then there was the challenge of sailing through the Archipelago Islands as we headed towards Esperance just as the sun set and negotiating most of them during the night.”

Mr Macpherson also competed in the Sydney to Hobart as a crew member for the yacht Knee Deep.

Minds Eye was second in the Audi IRC Division 3 in the Skandia Geelong Week competition and 58 out of 88, with 41st position on handicap, in the Sydney to Hobart.

Minds Eye will now take on the challenge of Geographe Bay Race Week.