Four set for rowing milestone

Four rowers are expected to be the first Australians to successfully paddle their way across the Tasman sea.

The team hopes to arrive in Sydney Harbour just in time to see the New Year's Eve fireworks and mark the first trans-Tasman crossing by an Australian team.

Their efforts will also snatch the record from under the noses of kayakers James Castrission and Justin Jones, who remain 571km from Auckland, hampered by strong currents.

The team of Steven Gates, Andrew Johnson, Kerry Tozer and surf boat champion Sally Macready, have been at sea since November 29 when they left Hokianga Harbour, north of Auckland.

They reached their halfway mark within 15 days.

Mr Gates, 39, said the team was excited about reaching their goal, given the uncomfortable conditions and unexpected dangers.

On Christmas night, after a special lunch of two minute noodles and tuna, the four rowers escaped a collision with a freighter which failed to see them.

The team has been rowing two hours on and two hours off, 24 hours a day in their specially built 11.1 metre boat.

Mr Gates said the 2200km journey also had its highlights.

"Yesterday, we had a pod of about 20 to 30 dolphins frolicking around the boat and surfing the waves," he said.

"The weather was glorious, we finally struck a favourable current and it was great to be on the ocean."

Based on their most recent estimates, the team will arrive in Sydney before the new year unless their speed slips below three kilometres per hour.

Kayakers Castrission and Jones, who paddled an extra 1000km to avoid treacherous ocean currents in their attempt to cross the Tasman, are expected to arrive in New Zealand on January 12.

The first person to paddle the Tasman was New Zealander and solo kayaker Colin Quincy in 1976.