Overnight positions tighten in the 80th Rolex Sydney Hobart, with Comanche leading, Kiwi boats holding ground, and IRC and PHS standings shifting.
A steady night at the front of the fleet
The 80th Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race has settled into a measured overnight phase, but the leaderboard at the front remains finely balanced. After moving into the lead yesterday, Master Lock Comanche has held first place through the night (currently parallel with Tura Beach) and now has 438.6 nautical miles remaining to Hobart.
The margin behind her is slim. LawConnect sits 2.4 nautical miles astern, a gap that has grown overnight but as we saw earlier with LawConnect-Master Lock Comanche this can quickly be erased by a shift in pressure, sail choice, or routing decision.
Top five still tightly grouped
In third place, SHK Scallywag (a Dovell 100 navigated by Will Oxley) continues to sail with the main body of the leading fleet and is 8.2 nautical miles behind the leader. Lucky follows in fourth, 9 nautical miles off Comanche’s pace, maintaining consistent speed and staying connected to the front group.
While American-owned, Lucky carries strong New Zealand interest, with Brad Butterworth directing strategy onboard a largely Kiwi crew. The margins between third, fourth, and fifth remain narrow enough that position changes are still likely as the race progresses south.
Rounding out the top five, Palm Beach 11 sits 13.5 nautical miles behind the leader. Her position reinforces just how compressed the front of the fleet remains after the first full night at sea, with no runaway leader emerging.
Wild Thing 100 retired overnight after forestay damage, a withdrawal that effectively moves the remaining fleet up one place in the standings.
Kiwi interest led by Callisto
For New Zealand followers, Callisto remains the leading New Zealand-flagged entry. With Wild Thing 100’s retirement she is now sitting on 10th for line honours, 59.4 nautical miles behind Master Lock Comanche. While not threatening the lead group outright, Callisto has held her place within the upper portion of the fleet rather than slipping back overnight, an important marker as the race lengthens.
Further back, Vixen Racing is running 64th, with Gizmo making good progress overnight and closed the gap with Vixen Racing and is now one place behind in 65th. They remain embedded within the central pack rather than falling into isolation.
Corrected-time picture sharpens overnight
Overnight racing has materially reshaped both corrected-time contests. On IRC, the leaderboard is now led by Celestial V70, with URM Group second and Lucky third. This represents a clear shift from earlier in the race, when none of the larger, faster boats featured inside the top ten. Sustained overnight pressure and improved VMG have allowed the big offshore designs to convert raw speed into corrected-time gains, bringing them firmly back into contention as the race lengthens.
IRC standings | Top five
- Celestial V70 – Sam Haynes (NSW)
- URM Group – Anthony & David Johnston (NSW)
- Lucky – Bryon Ehrhart (USA)
- MRV – Damien King (VIC)
- SHK Scallywag 100 – Seng Huang Lee (Hong Kong)
On PHS, Wild Oats leads, followed by Alithia, with Maritimo 100 now third after dropping back from second. The change reflects a tightening mid fleet rather than a loss of pace, as steadier conditions have reduced the variability that initially favoured Maritimo 100’s conservative, consistent approach.
PHS standings | Top five
- Wild Oats – Gordon Smith & Stuart Byrne (NSW)
- Alithia – Jost Stollmann (Germany)
- Maritimo 100 – Bill Barry-Cotter (QLD)
- MWF Kayle – Making Waves Foundation (NSW)
- Le Tiroflan – Chris Taylor (NSW)
Maritimo entries perform with discipline
One of the more notable performances overnight comes from Maritimo 100, owned and skippered by Bill Barry Cotter. She sits 22nd overall, with approximately 513.8 nautical miles remaining. Built as a luxury motor yacht rather than a purpose-designed offshore racer, her position reflects conservative sailing, reliability, and careful management rather than outright pace.
Her sistership, Maritimo Katwinchar, is currently 111th, with 553.2 nautical miles still to sail. Despite the numerical difference on the leaderboard, the two Maritimo entries are separated by only around 40 nautical miles, highlighting how tightly packed the mid fleet remains.
Early attrition but fleet largely intact
The race has already claimed a small number of retirements. Wild Thing 100 has withdrawn at sea following rigging issues, while Arwen retired after suffering a broken forestay. Hutch’s Year Baby retired at port and did not take the start.
With more than 400 nautical miles still ahead for the leaders, the Sydney to Hobart remains far from resolved. The fleet is largely intact, the margins at the front remain small, and the race is still defined by precision rather than separation.
