As the wind howled and the rain pelted down, Lee and Pearce spent 13 hours together on a five-metre boat on a lake in Victoria - all in the name of sport.

The intrepid duo competed against 160 other vessels in the Marlay Point overnight race on Saturday, collecting the bruises and trophy to prove it.

In a sensational display of sailing and survival, Lee and Pearce breezed to victory in the sport division of the famous Gippsland Lakes event.

Sailing Yknot, a 5.9m Elliott craft, Lee and Pearce won their hotly contested division by seven minutes.

Recalling the race yesterday, Lee said the harsh conditions had made the marathon race the toughest in which he had competed.

"It was fairly hairy at times," Lee said.

"The wind gusted up to 30 knots and the rain absolutely bucketed down.

"Reg and I could barely hear each other talk and were only a metre apart."

Sailing from 8.30pm on Saturday to 10am on Sunday, Lee and Pearce traversed the lake's system from the western end near Sale to the eastern side at Paynesville.

"The race actually started an hour late because of the rain," Lee said.

"We were supposed to start at sunset, but it was 8.30(pm) by the time we got going.

"In the conditions visibility wasn't good. It was down to barely 50 metres at times."

For Wagga's adventurous pair, the weekend attack on the Gippsland Lakes endurance race was not their first attempt.

"We've competed before but never got in the results," Lee said.

"This was bit of shock. It was certainly memorable."

Back in Wagga yesterday, Lee said he was delighted to hear the city had been inundated with a record deluge on Sunday.

"The rain will do Lake Albert the world of good," he said.

"It's actually filling up quite well."

Like the rest of the Wagga sailing and boating fraternity, Lee and Pearce are avid supporters of Lake Albert and want the venue back to its best.

Lee and Fisher took advantage of the rising water level to put Yknot through its paces on the lake yesterday.