Pilot boats need to take on the worst weather in getting their officers on board ships bound into strange ports.

This 42 footer braved a Force 9 gale and 25ft seas as a test sail outside Cork Harbour in Ireland.

The car-carrying freighter created a nasty cross sea over the natural wave pattern giving the test even more rigour. The picture by Dag Pike, appears in our sister magazine Motor Boat & yachting.