Glen Jeffery has made the decision to retire from the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge and is making his own way back to New Zealand. He is safe and well.
After our night update was published, Jeffery, sailing the Grand Soleil 50 Wave retired. Jeffery is the third retirement from the original fleet of 15, joining Graeme Francis on Robbery, and Bill Kidman on Pretty Boy Floyd. Each retirement has come for different reasons, but each carries the same emotional weight — after months of preparation, commitment and sacrifice the race is brought to an end mid-way through the race.
At the time of his decision, Wave was sailing in just 7-8 knots in a very rolly sea state. Those conditions — light air and an uncomfortable swell — as the Race Organisers point out, can be as exhausting as a full storm for a solo sailor. There’s nobody to spell you at the helm, nobody to make a hot drink while you rest. The physical and mental grind of it is relentless.
Glen had been reasonably spirited to this point. On day three, with the storm front behind him, he checked in from a sunnier place: fixing the life ring light that had been soaked by a big wave — dried out in the hot water cupboard and back on the boat — and noting, with characteristic humour, that the cupholder had been “wiped off” by another wave. He’d just had his first hot shower of the trip. He was looking forward to the next few days.
Those next few days brought the wind hole that caught much of the mid-fleet. Wave’s 24-hour DMG dropped to 70 NM at the Tuesday evening update — the same calm that had Roaring Forty, Catnip, Nautilass and Camellia all fighting for progress. Wave had been sitting 7th on line honours, 744 NM from the finish, having sailed 469 NM. It was a position that reflected genuine commitment to the race — nearly halfway across the Tasman in difficult conditions.
Race Management will continue to monitor Jeffery’s progress. He will provide position and status reports every 12 hours, and Wave will remain visible on the Yellow Brick Tracker heading home. The rest of the fleet has been notified and passed on their best wishes.
Twelve boats now remain in the race. We wish Glen Jeffery a safe and comfortable passage back to New Zealand.
An update on the rest of the fleet:
- Sarau has crossed halfway — now at 615 NM DTF, having sailed 589 NM, confirming she passed the 585 NM mark since the last update. Pacman at 626 NM is very close to halfway too.
- Sarau leads Vixen by 3 minutes on PHRF corrected time. That gap was 12 minutes three hours ago. Vixen is eating into it at roughly 3 minutes per hour. If that rate holds, the lead changes hands before morning.
