It’s dark over the Tasman Sea. Winter hours have brought earlier sunsets. Out there, thirteen skippers are settling into their fourth night at sea. They are not alone — seabirds, fishing boats, cargo ships. The Tasman isn’t empty. But by the fourth night, it might feel very, very big.
Tuesday passed without drama. The first 48 hours were full of EPIRB activations, rescues, and closer to the sailing action, headsails wrapped around forestays. Now conditions have settled into the long, patient business of crossing an ocean. The heroes have given way to the grind.
Oceans Tribute is running at 9.1 knots with 441 NM to the finish. Guy Chester is eating into this race now, projected to arrive at Southport on 4 June at 19:39 — less than two days away. Behind him, Sharon Ferris-Choat on Vixen Racing sits second overall at 534 NM DTF, the monohull sandwiched between the two multihulls. James Foster’s Mumby 48 catamaran Electron is 20 NM further back in third. Only these three have crossed the halfway mark. Tonight, Malcolm Dickson’s 55-foot Sarau and Peter Elkington’s Young 11 Pacman are likely to join them. Kevin Le Poideven’s Open 40 Roaring Forty may follow before morning — it all depends on the wind.
Sharon Ferris-Choat, for her part, is in good spirits. “Here comes the moon!” And then, shortly after a tack: “I have just tacked onto starboard heading towards Lord Howe Island at the moment on a nice lift!” A full moon, a good lift, and Lord Howe Island ahead. There are worse places to spend a Tuesday night.
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The fleet is split into three distinct groups — the front three, then Sarau, Pacman and Roaring Forty, then the close-quarters four of Wave, Catnip, Nautilass and Camellia, with Smoko, Diablo and Fair Seasons bringing up the rear. Where you sit in this race right now depends almost entirely on where you found the wind. Oceans Tribute at 9.1 knots, Vixen Racing at 7.9 — and earlier today Electron was briefly registering 1.9 knots while others were sailing along in pressure. The wind drops and builds as it pleases, and nobody can do a thing about it.
2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge — Full Fleet Line Honours at 79 hours (19:00 NZST, 2 June)
Pos
Boat
Class
DTF
Dist Sailed
VMG
24h DMG
Est Finish
Est Elapsed
1
Oceans Tribute
Trimaran
441 NM
814 NM
9.1 kts
228 NM
4 Jun 19:39
5d 7h 39m 30s
2
Vixen Racing
Monohull
534 NM
706 NM
7.9 kts
173 NM
5 Jun 14:38
6d 2h 32m 10s
3
Electron
Catamaran
554 NM
668 NM
7.6 kts
163 NM
5 Jun 19:27
6d 7h 27m 33s
4
Sarau
Monohull
627 NM
569 NM
6.7 kts
144 NM
6 Jun 16:32
7d 4h 32m 30s
5
Pacman
Monohull
639 NM
559 NM
6.6 kts
149 NM
6 Jun 20:18
7d 8h 12m 1s
6
Roaring Forty
Monohull
667 NM
517 NM
6.2 kts
140 NM
7 Jun 06:21
7d 18h 15m 10s
7
Wave
Monohull
744 NM
469 NM
5.2 kts
70 NM
8 Jun 17:16
9d 5h 10m 8s
8
Catnip
Monohull
773 NM
426 NM
4.9 kts
104 NM
9 Jun 09:48
9d 21h 42m 57s
9
Nautilass
Monohull
777 NM
416 NM
4.8 kts
97 NM
9 Jun 11:54
9d 23h 48m 33s
10
Camellia
Monohull
777 NM
397 NM
4.8 kts
107 NM
9 Jun 12:07
10d 0h 1m 5s
11
Smoko
Monohull
828 NM
356 NM
4.2 kts
82 NM
11 Jun 01:21
11d 13h 15m 7s
12
Diablo
Monohull
836 NM
355 NM
4.1 kts
88 NM
11 Jun 07:51
11d 19h 45m 19s
13
Fair Seasons
Monohull
920 NM
303 NM
3.0 kts
52 NM
15 Jun 12:05
15d 23h 59m 42s
—
Pretty Boy Floyd (retired — returning to Opua)
Monohull
—
—
Robbery (retired — safely in Mangōnui)
Monohull
—
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue.
Roaring Forty has had the best day in the fleet. At this morning’s update, Roaring Forty and Wave were separated by just 6 NM — a gap that had held firm for nearly 24 hours. By evening Kevin Le Poideven had opened it to a much wider gap. He found the squalls and used them. Wave, with just 70 NM in 24 hours, could not.
The mid-fleet battle is the most interesting thing on the tracker right now. Catnip, Nautilass and Camellia are covered by just 4 NM on DTF — 773, 777 and 777 NM respectively. Camellia and Nautilass share the exact same DTF, but Camellia has sailed almost 20 NM less to get there. Ben Ball’s more north-easterly routing is paying off in distance efficiency, even if the light air has been maddening. He’ll be watching the winds and his competitors closely tonight.
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2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge — PHRF Monohull standings at 79 hours (19:00 NZST, 2 June)
Pos
Boat
Handicap
DTF
Dist Sailed
VMG
24h DMG
Est Finish
Corrected Elapsed
1
Sarau
0.798
627 NM
569 NM
6.7 kts
144 NM
6 Jun 16:32
5d 17h 41m 18s
2
Vixen Racing
0.941
534 NM
706 NM
7.9 kts
173 NM
5 Jun 14:38
5d 17h 53m 26s
3
Pacman
0.840
639 NM
559 NM
6.6 kts
149 NM
6 Jun 20:18
6d 4h 0m 30s
4
Camellia
0.706
777 NM
397 NM
4.8 kts
107 NM
9 Jun 12:07
7d 1h 27m 10s
5
Roaring Forty
0.919
667 NM
517 NM
6.2 kts
140 NM
7 Jun 06:21
7d 3h 9m 59s
6
Diablo
0.660
836 NM
355 NM
4.1 kts
88 NM
11 Jun 07:51
7d 19h 16m 43s
7
Smoko
0.685
828 NM
356 NM
4.2 kts
82 NM
11 Jun 01:21
7d 21h 55m 3s
8
Wave
0.872
744 NM
469 NM
5.2 kts
70 NM
8 Jun 17:16
8d 0h 51m 33s
9
Nautilass
0.824
777 NM
416 NM
4.8 kts
97 NM
9 Jun 11:54
8d 5h 36m 10s
10
Catnip
0.851
773 NM
426 NM
4.9 kts
104 NM
9 Jun 09:48
8d 10h 17m 46s
11
Fair Seasons
0.696
920 NM
303 NM
3.0 kts
52 NM
15 Jun 12:05
11d 3h 15m 38s
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
On PHRF corrected time, the standings have flipped again. Sarau has reclaimed first from Vixen Racing — but only just. Twelve minutes separate them after 79 hours of racing. Sarau‘s 0.798 handicap is doing its work, but Vixen‘s pace of 173 NM in 24 hours against Sarau‘s 144 NM makes this lead fragile. One good night’s sailing from Ferris-Choat and it’s gone. Camellia has quietly pushed into fourth on corrected time, her 0.706 handicap working in the background. She needs to find more pace, but she’s one to watch.
On General Handicap, Electron still leads Oceans Tribute — but the gap has closed from 6 hours this morning to just under 2 hours now, 5d 1h 0m against 5d 2h 56m. Chester is closing it fast. If Oceans Tribute finds the right conditions on the run into Southport, Electron‘s General Handicap lead could be gone before the finish.
2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge — General Handicap (Multihull) at 79 hours (19:00 NZST, 2 June)
Pos
Boat
Class
Handicap
DTF
Dist Sailed
VMG
24h DMG
Est Finish
Corrected Elapsed
1
Electron
Catamaran
0.799
554 NM
668 NM
7.6 kts
163 NM
5 Jun 19:27
5d 1h 0m 57s
2
Oceans Tribute
Trimaran
0.963
441 NM
814 NM
9.1 kts
228 NM
4 Jun 19:39
5d 2h 56m 6s
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Pretty Boy Floyd is on the tracker heading back to Opua, we estimate somewhere near the Three Kings Islands by now. Fair Seasons was the last of the Southport-bound fleet she passed.
What’s coming for the remaining fleet is 22-25 knots with gusts to 35 on the approach to the Australian coast. After what they sailed through off North Cape, that should feel manageable — easy for a couch critic to say. But four days of patchy sleep and light air takes something out of you, and familiar conditions still demand everything. By the end of tomorrow, almost half the fleet should have the finish line in their sights.
Part two of this race is just getting started.