I am on a SAR unit not a million miles from you folks and I think I might have considered exceeding the speed on the way out but not planned to do it on the way back.
When we find ourselves analysing with optimism rather than a hint of pessimism then tis time to stand back.... particularly on long range jobs. As far as the speed goes, I really doubt the marketers would let the engineers put restrictions on speed if they didnt think they were necessary.
Fair play to the capt for coming on and letting us all think about it and learn. Would like to shake his hand.... if he can plan to get a guy off a trawler in a 6m+ sea on a no moon night in ten mins, then his hand is a lot steadier than mine.