Doug Esterman called from somewhere in the Tasman, with Norfolk Island about 250 miles off his beam and with circa 524 nautical miles still to run to Southport. The connection was poor, cutting in and out with long delays. But the message came through clearly enough.
“Loving it,” he said. “It’s a whole new appreciation of life.”
Fair Seasons, his Cavalier 39, has covered more than 800 nautical miles so far; last in the active fleet, projecting a finish around 14 June. There is a prize-giving at Southport Yacht Club when all boats are in, and Esterman has strong feelings about that. “I don’t want to miss the party.”
At 62 Doug Esterman takes on the Solo Trans-Tasman for the first time
To understand where Fair Seasons is now, you have to understand where she has been. Seven days ago, on 31 May, in the dark of the early night, hours after Graeme Francis had already turned Robbery toward Opua, Doug Esterman turned Fair Seasons around and headed back toward Robbery which was by then filling with water. Later that night, once Francis was in control of his own situation, Esterman had resumed his course toward Australia, but the Tasman had other ideas and continued to throw everything it had at the entire fleet. The next day, 2 June, he circled again, and it was not until the day afterwards around 5am the next morning that he was properly back on his way. That same morning he closely passed Bill Kidman’s Pretty Boy Floyd heading home. The next day, on 3 June, he passed Glen Jeffery’s Wave. Two retired boats going the other way, both men he had met on the start line a few days earlier. Esterman pressed on.
The time lost to the Robbery detour has defined his race. But ask him about turning back and the answer is simple. “It was because I wasn’t happy.” He turned around because that is what you do.
There was emotion in his voice on the call — not for himself, but for the others. For Graeme Francis, who had fought to keep Robbery afloat through the night. For Bill Kidman, who had worked so hard to get to the start line and had to turn for home before the Tasman had really begun. For Glen Jeffery, who had dealt with failure after failure aboard Wave before making the call to retire. These are his people, and the knowledge of what each retirement had cost them clearly weighed on him. “The other sailors are amazing,” he said, and the way he said it carried more than the words.
The crossing has not been easy. He has been feeling unwell for a few days, though he says he is feeling better now. The autopilot — a persistent issue throughout — has continued to fail when it is needed most. He’s relied heavily on his wind pilot for steering. Sleep has not been easy.
Somewhere along the way his Starlink went overboard — strong winds, damage to the pushpit, and a moment of misplaced confidence about where it had been secured. “I looked back and I was stupid where I’d put it. You look at it and you think, couldn’t have had that happening, and I did.” With communications down, he has been sailing largely in silence.
Of the lighter boats that have taken the worst of the conditions he was full of admiration. “The light boats in these conditions are doing amazing.” Fair Seasons, he is clear, is built for this. “I really think the boat was good enough to make it.” The others who kept going despite everything, “not even doing it, but done. You know?”, those are the remarkable ones.
He is tired. The boat has taken a battering. But Doug Esterman is still out there, still 524 miles from the finish line, and absolutely not missing the party.
My call with Doug was emotional. He is coming back from being unwell, and without doubt exhausted, and when you are both of those things at once, the feelings are closer to the surface. But underneath all of it, his determination was clear.
The weather is easing. The winds that have been on his nose for much of this crossing are beginning to turn, shifting to push him toward Southport rather than fight him for every mile. The conditions that made the first half of this race so brutal for so many are finally relenting.
I don’t know exactly when Doug Esterman will cross the finish line. But I have a feeling it will come up faster than he thinks.
