Race record: The race record, set in 2014 in this very hull, stands at 6 days 7 hours 13 minutes; noting that was for 1,280 nautical miles rather than the circa 1,170 for the 2026 version.
Updates
This is Part 2 a multi-part article. See Part 1.
THU 11 JUN 2026DOUG ESTERMAN AND FAIR SEASONS CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Doug Esterman has finished his first Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge. He crossed the finish line of the 2026 edition at 12:03pm NZST, 11 days 23 hours at sea, 1,366 nautical miles on his Salthouse Cavalier 39 Fair Seasons. Last to finish. But first in heart. Eleventh on line honours. Ninth on monohull PHRF handicap.
He turned back to stand by a sailor in trouble. Lost his Starlink overboard. Battled a broken autopilot most of the way across. Was sick. Battled everything the Tasman would throw at him. But most of all he didn’t want to miss the party. He hasn’t.
Well sailed Doug! What a journey!
Doug Esterman and Fair Seasons: Last to finish the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman — and first in heart
WED 10 JUN 2026PETER NOBBS AND SMOKO CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Some people spend their lives talking about adventures. Peter Nobbs quietly goes and does them.
Today, Peter brought Smoko across the finish line of the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge after sailing 1,256 nautical miles alone across the Tasman Sea.
His elapsed time of 11 days 3 hours 12 minutes 8 seconds earned him 10th on line honours, while a corrected time of 7 days 15 hours 2 minutes 1 second saw him finish 6th in the monohull PHRF division.
More than 30 years after sailing non-stop around the world solo, Peter is still proving that the best adventures are the ones you decide to take.
Congratulations Peter and Smoko.
From customs officers to Southport, Peter Nobbs and Smoko finish the Solo Trans-Tasman Challenge
WED 10 JUN 2026PETER BOURKE AND DIABLO CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Peter Bourke found Diablo on a mooring at Opua in 2020. Bits falling off. Sails in tatters. A 1970 kauri keelboat that had been rolled upside down off the Wairarapa coast, raced in Wellington and Lyttelton, and then forgotten.
He spent five years restoring her. Then sailed her solo around New Zealand to qualify for this race. Then crossed the Tasman.
1,308 nautical miles. 10 days 19 hours 6 minutes 35 seconds. Ninth across the line. Fifth on monohull handicap. The smallest boat in the fleet. He celebrated his 74th birthday on this Challenge. The only wooden boat to finish.
Peter Bourke and Diablo. What a story. What a sailor! Here’s to that raised glass, Peter.
TUE 9 JUN 2026TERRY DUNN AND NAUTILASS CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Terry Dunn spent three months preparing his own boat for this race. Then switched to Nautilass, a borrowed Beneteau he barely knew, with days to spare.
He crossed the Southport finish line at 4:47 this morning after sailing 1,362 nautical miles, 9 days 16 hours 41 minutes and 31 seconds, from Opua.
Congratulations Terry! Happy sailing in Australia.
MON 8 JUN 2026GEOFF THORN AND CATNIP CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Geoff Thorn and Catnip have crossed the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge finish line. Seventh overall on line honours. 9 days 9 hours 39 minutes and 53 seconds at sea. 1,304 nautical miles.
Currently sixth on monohull PHRF handicap with a corrected elapsed time of 8 days 2 minutes 26 seconds, with several boats still racing.
MON 8 JUN 2026223 HOUR UPDATE
Geoff Thorn’s Catnip is 17 miles from the finish. Terry Dunn on Nautilass is close behind, still trying to close a 40-mile gap to Catnip that has held all race. Kevin Le Poideven survived 36 sleepless hours, a near-grounding and a mooring failure at Lord Howe Island. Six home, four retired, five still racing.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Catnip 90 minutes from the finish line
MON 8 JUN 2026216 HOUR UPDATE
Today, Ben Ball, the man who as a boy dreamed big—to cross the Tasman solo—achieved that goal in the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge. The Tasman Sea was not kind, but he sailed Camellia, his 1976 Cavalier 36, hard—nothing was going to stop him from reaching the Southport finish line.
9 days 2 hours 37 minutes and 36 seconds sailing. Holding second on monohull handicap at the finish (final results pending). Sixth on line honours. 1,281 NM on the Tasman Sea.
The Tasman dream is real, Ben Ball and Camellia cross the finish line
MON 8 JUN 2026216 HOUR UPDATE
216 hours into the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Challenge and 1264 NM at sea, Ben Ball and his Cavalier 36 Camellia are 17 NM from the finish line in Southport. We will update soon.
SUN 7 JUN 2026202 HOUR UPDATE
Ben Ball and his Cavalier 36 Camellia have just slipped into second place on the monohull PHRF leadership board.
First place still belongs to Malcolm Dickson’s 55-foot Sarau with a finished corrected time of 6 days 4 hours 56 minutes and 35 seconds.
- Camellia: still racing with a current corrected time, 6d 12h 56m 50s
- Pacman: finished with a corrected time of 6d 13h 7m 24s
- Vixen Racing: finished with a corrected time of 6d 14h 13m 49s
- Diablo: still racing with a current corrected time of 7d 15h 10m 20s
SUN 7 JUN 2026200 HOUR UPDATE
Without doubt the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge has been one of the toughest races these sailors have ever experienced. Terry Dunn is not the only skipper to have been brought to tears by exhaustion and the relentless conditions. The stories coming off the water over the last few days make you realise just how much these people have had to dig deep. This is the race where man and boat truly meet the ocean.
In amongst all of that, Ben Ball has made banana bread. And crept up the PHRF standings to third. Keep watching — this race is not done yet.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Camellia climbs the handicap table and Terry Dunn calls in from the Tasman
SUN 7 JUN 2026189 HOUR UPDATE
Five boats home, four retired, six still racing. Ben Ball is surfing five-metre waves on Camellia with 202 miles to go, predicted to finish Monday night. Catnip and Nautilass are sailing in company, 41 miles apart. Diablo and Smoko follow behind. Fair Seasons is last, alone, and still going.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Six still sailing — Camellia surfing five-metre waves toward the finish
SUN 7 JUN 2026SARAU AND PACMAN CROSS THE FINISH LINE
Malcolm Dickson designed and built Sarau himself. This year, at 79, he stripped out the washing machine, the microwave, the bedroom door, and anything else he could find. Then he sailed her across the Tasman in the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge in his fastest time ever.
Thirty-one minutes behind him, Peter Elkington arrived in the dark on Pacman, a Young 11 he bought for nostalgia and turned into a Tasman racer.
Two boats. Lock-step most of the way, and this close at the end of the race. What a race!
Sarau and Pacman cross the line — in the dark, 31 minutes apart
SAT 6 JUN 2026ELECTRON, FIRST MULTIHULL ON HANDICAP
James Foster and Electron cross the finish line with a provisional corrected time of 5d 22h 48m 27s and elapsed time of 7d 10h 43m 58s. As he arrives home, he wins the Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge 2026 in the Multihull Handicap (NZ Multihull Yacht Club) division. Overall third across the line.
James Foster is nearly home: Seven days, 10 hours and one hell of a Tasman
SAT 6 JUN 2026176 HOUR UPDATE
James Foster is minutes from the Southport finish line, set to dock tonight as the third finisher and likely NZ Multihull Handicap winner. Pacman and Sarau are one nautical mile apart racing for fourth. Kevin Le Poideven survived 36 sleepless hours dodging reefs at Lord Howe Island. Ben Ball is making fast miles on Camellia. Two boats home, one on the doorstep, eight more still sailing.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Electron nearly finished, one mile between Pacman and Sarau
SAT 6 JUN 2026VIXEN RACING, FIRST MONOHULL TO FINISH
Sharon Ferris-Choat has crossed the finish line. Second boat home. First monohull. The only woman to start the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge — and the first woman to finish the race since 2014.
Sharon Ferris-Choat: 1,400 miles alone — first woman to finish the Solo Trans-Tasman in 12 years
SAT 6 JUN 2026164 HOUR UPDATE
Guy Chester has finished — 6 days 7 hours 34 minutes. Roaring Forty has retired with a sheared forestay shackle. Vixen Racing is 40 miles from Southport and finishing this afternoon. Saturday morning update from the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Chester finished, Roaring Forty retired, Vixen Racing is 40 miles out
FRI 5 JUN 2026GUY CHESTER WINS LINE HONOURS!
Guy Chester has crossed the finish line at Southport aboard his Crowther Design 93 trimaran Oceans Tribute, finishing the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge in 19:34 NZST. He is the first boat home, taking overall Line Honours in a time of 6 days 7 hours 34 minutes and 36 seconds.
Chester sailed more than 1,450 nautical miles across the Tasman, alone, in conditions he described as among the worst he has ever experienced. Hail, lightning, 45-knot squalls, and seas that had him on two reefs and a staysail just to keep the boat moving. He arrived at Southport safe, tired, desperate for coffee, and he nailed it.
FRI 5 JUN 2026150 HOUR UPDATE
Guy Chester is 17 miles from Southport and finishing tonight, taking overall line honours. Sharon Ferris-Choat is 170 miles out, flying home, the first monohull to finish tomorrow evening. The NZ Multihull Handicap result stays open until Electron finishes. Sarau leads PHRF by just over an hour from Vixen Racing. Nautilass and Catnip are 24 minutes apart on corrected time after 800 miles of ocean. Fair Seasons hasn’t crossed halfway yet. Bill Kidman is in Queensland to welcome the finishers. Glen Jeffery may yet sail to Australia.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Chester on the dock tonight as the fleet fights to the finish
FRI 5 JUN 2026141 HOUR UPDATE
Chester is 97 miles out and finishing tonight. The fleet survived a savage night — hail the size of golf balls, 50-knot squalls, Crazy Ivan wind shifts. Ferris-Choat’s big overnight run on Vixen Racing blew out a 14-minute handicap gap over Camellia to 2 hours 34 minutes. Camellia had briefly taken second. Oceans Tribute leads on NZ Multihull Handicap after Chester’s 171 NM overnight run. Le Poideven is running on zero sleep. Ball is still in third on PHRF and still not sunbathing. Wave is now back in Opua. Welcome back Glen.
THU 4 JUN 2026128 HOUR UPDATE
Ben Ball bailed half a ton of water three days ago. Now Camellia is third on handicap, and chasing hard.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: The solo handicap battle just got tighter
THU 4 JUN 2026117 HOUR UPDATE
Five days in and the Tasman showed its teeth again overnight. Sharon Ferris-Choat was hit by a 47-knot squall in the dark, fought through it, and lost her gains when the wind died. Guy Chester is 267 miles from Southport. Sarau has opened a 10-hour lead on handicap. The tracker went down at 8am. The mid-fleet three-way battle between Camellia, Catnip and Nautilass makes for an interesting race-in-a-race. Fair Seasons has finally found some pace.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: 47 Knots in the night and Southport finally in sight
WED 3 JUN 2026106 HOUR UPDATE
Four days and ten hours in. Bill Kidman is safely back in Opua. Guy Chester is 334 nautical miles from the finish and closing fast. Sharon Ferris-Choat lost all her wind to a cloud this afternoon and spent the day fighting her way back. Ben Ball bailed half a ton of water out of Camellia’s cabin — his own fault, he says — then went blasting along at 7 knots this morning. Terry Dunn is running out of tea bags. Sarau leads on handicap.
Solo Trans-Tasman 2026: Bill Kidman is home, Chester closes in, and Camellia bails out
WED 3 JUN 202695 HOUR UPDATE
Solo Trans-Tasman fleet batten down as 37-knot blasts return and leaders stretch away
TUE 2 JUN 2026 82 HOUR UPDATE
Wave retires from the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge. Glen Jeffery has made the call to retire from the race aboard his Grand Soleil 50 Wave, and is making his own way back to New Zealand. He is safe and well.
Wave is currently sailing in 7-8 knots with a rolly sea state — uncomfortable going for a solo sailor, and the kind of conditions that grind you down over time. We will continue to monitor his progress. Glen will provide position reports to Race Management every 12 hours, so he can still be tracked on the Yellow Brick Tracker heading home.
Three retirements now from the original fleet of 15. Each one a reminder of what it takes just to reach the start line, let alone cross an ocean alone. We wish Glen a safe passage home.
Glen Jeffery and Wave retire from the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge
TUE 2 JUN 2026 78 HOUR UPDATE
Thirteen skippers are into their fourth night on the Tasman. Tuesday passed without drama — a change after the rescues and retirements of the first 48 hours. Oceans Tribute leads the fleet at 441 NM to the finish, projected to arrive at Southport on 4 June. Vixen Racing sits second, the monohull sandwiched between the two multihulls. Only Oceans Tribute, Vixen Racing and Electron have crossed the halfway mark. Sarau and Pacman are expected to join them tonight.
Sharon Ferris-Choat checked in from Vixen Racing in fine form: “Here comes the moon!” Shortly after: “I have just tacked onto starboard heading towards Lord Howe Island at the moment on a nice lift!”
Roaring Forty has had the standout day in the fleet, opening a 77 NM gap on Wave after the two had been inseparable all morning. Kevin Le Poideven found the squalls. Wave did not.
| Pos | Boat | Class | DTF | VMG | Est Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 441 NM | 9.1 kts | 4 Jun 19:39 |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 534 NM | 7.9 kts | 5 Jun 14:38 |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 554 NM | 7.6 kts | 5 Jun 19:27 |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 627 NM | 6.7 kts | 6 Jun 16:32 |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 639 NM | 6.6 kts | 6 Jun 20:18 |
| 6 | Roaring Forty | Monohull | 667 NM | 6.2 kts | 7 Jun 06:21 |
| 7 | Wave | Monohull | 744 NM | 5.2 kts | 8 Jun 17:16 |
The mid-fleet battle is the most interesting thing on the tracker. 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 distance to finish, but Camellia has sailed almost 20 NM less to get there. Ben Ball’s north-easterly routing is paying off.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau | 0.798 | 5d 17h 41m 18s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | 0.941 | 5d 17h 53m 26s |
| 3 | Pacman | 0.840 | 6d 4h 0m 30s |
| 4 | Camellia | 0.706 | 7d 1h 27m 10s |
Sarau leads on PHRF corrected time by just 12 minutes from Vixen Racing. Twelve minutes 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. Camellia has pushed into fourth on corrected time — one to watch.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | DTF | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electron | 0.799 | 554 NM | 5 Jun 19:27 | 5d 1h 0m 57s |
| 2 | Oceans Tribute | 0.963 | 441 NM | 4 Jun 19:39 | 5d 2h 56m 6s |
Electron leads Oceans Tribute on NZ Multihull Handicap (NZ Multihull Yacht Club) corrected time — but the gap has closed from 6 hours this morning to just under 2 hours now. Chester is closing fast. If Oceans Tribute finds the right conditions on the run into Southport, Electron‘s lead could be gone before the finish line.
What’s coming for the 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. But four nights of broken sleep takes something out of you. By tomorrow evening, half the fleet should have the finish line in their sights. Part two of this race is just getting started.
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
This is Part 2 a multi-part article. See Part 1.
