The 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge got a moment on national television last night — Seven Sharp featured the race — and this morning the fleet woke to exactly the kind of Tasman that makes good television. Squalls from nowhere. 47-knot surprises in the dark. A tracking system that went offline at 8am and left followers scrambling to AIS data.
Sharon Ferris-Choat had the night of it. The Verdier 40 Vixen Racing was sailing along in 12 knots with a single reef and the J2 when a squall hit without warning. “The next thing I know we’ve got 47 knots and torrential rain and the only thing I could do was bear away.” She bore away, filled the J2, got the main under control, got the J3 up, sorted it out — and by the time she had, the wind had died. Back to square one. “It’s rough out here, it’s tough, the squalls are coming from everywhere and it’s on the wind.” This morning she’s regrouping, eating something, trying to get dry. “It’s bloody freezing too.” Still in the fight, she says. And she is — 363 NM from the finish, second overall.
The overnight cost her on corrected time. Malcolm Dickson’s 55-foot Sarau has opened a 11-hour on PHRF corrected elapsed — 6d 6h 53m against Ferris-Choat’s 6d 17h 42m. Sarau‘s 112 NM in 24 hours against Vixen‘s 69 NM tells the story. Dickson has been in better pressure and it shows.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau | 0.798 | 435 NM | 816 NM | 6.1 kts | 112 NM | 7 Jun 09:05 | 6d 6h 53m 41s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | 0.941 | 363 NM | 972 NM | 6.7 kts | 69 NM | 6 Jun 15:56 | 6d 17h 42m 29s |
| 3 | Pacman | 0.840 | 455 NM | 802 NM | 6.0 kts | 100 NM | 7 Jun 14:29 | 6d 19h 17m 1s |
| 4 | Camellia | 0.706 | 583 NM | 616 NM | 4.9 kts | 127 NM | 9 Jun 09:34 | 6d 23h 39m 46s |
| 5 | Roaring Forty | 0.919 | 465 NM | 750 NM | 5.9 kts | 123 NM | 7 Jun 17:11 | 7d 13h 7m 45s |
| 6 | Diablo | 0.660 | 675 NM | 538 NM | 4.1 kts | 105 NM | 11 Jun 06:53 | 7d 18h 38m 32s |
| 7 | Smoko | 0.685 | 669 NM | 527 NM | 4.1 kts | 108 NM | 11 Jun 03:48 | 7d 23h 35m 42s |
| 8 | Catnip | 0.851 | 588 NM | 629 NM | 4.8 kts | 124 NM | 9 Jun 11:57 | 8d 12h 7m 10s |
| 9 | Nautilass | 0.824 | 617 NM | 621 NM | 4.6 kts | 103 NM | 10 Jun 00:46 | 8d 16h 11m 51s |
| 10 | Fair Seasons | 0.696 | 743 NM | 496 NM | 3.5 kts | 123 NM | 13 Jun 05:17 | 9d 13h 6m 47s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 4 Jun 10:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Guy Chester on his Crowther trimaran Oceans Tribute is 267 NM from the finish and tracking for a projected arrival of 5 June at 21:27. He’s in the home stretch. The General Handicap battle between his trimaran and James Foster’s Mumby 48 catamaran Electron has tightened — Electron leads on corrected elapsed by 2 hours 18 minutes, 6d 1h 29m against 6d 3h 47m. With Chester projected to finish well ahead of Foster on elapsed time, the corrected result still hinges on the rating gap.
| Pos | Boat | Class | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electron | Catamaran | 0.799 | 407 NM | 941 NM | 6.4 kts | 64 NM | 7 Jun 02:04 | 6d 1h 29m 1s |
| 2 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 0.963 | 267 NM | 1118 NM | 7.5 kts | 105 NM | 5 Jun 21:27 | 6d 3h 47m 3s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 4 Jun 10:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Behind Vixen, the three-boat cluster of Sarau, Peter Elkington’s Young 11 Pacman and Kevin Le Poideven’s Open 40 Roaring Forty are covered by just 30 NM — 435, 455 and 465 NM DTF respectively. Le Poideven has had one of the best 24-hour DMG in this group at 123 NM and is closing. He’s in his own race within the race.
Mid-fleet, Ben Ball’s Cavalier 32 Camellia (very good 24H DMG, 127NM) and Geoff Thorn’s Beneteau First 45 Catnip are separated by just 5 NM at 583 and 588 NM DTF. Terry Dunn’s Nautilass sits 29 NM further back at 617 NM. After days of three-way cat and mouse, these boats have separated slightly but remain in sight of each other on the tracker.
| Pos | Boat | Class | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Est Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 267 NM | 1118 NM | 7.5 kts | 105 NM | 5 Jun 21:27 | 6d 9h 27m 44s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 363 NM | 972 NM | 6.7 kts | 69 NM | 6 Jun 15:56 | 7d 3h 50m 49s |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 407 NM | 941 NM | 6.4 kts | 64 NM | 7 Jun 02:04 | 7d 14h 4m 56s |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 435 NM | 816 NM | 6.1 kts | 112 NM | 7 Jun 09:05 | 7d 21h 5m 28s |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 455 NM | 802 NM | 6.0 kts | 100 NM | 7 Jun 14:29 | 8d 2h 23m 7s |
| 6 | Roaring Forty | Monohull | 465 NM | 750 NM | 5.9 kts | 123 NM | 7 Jun 17:11 | 8d 5h 5m 38s |
| 7 | Camellia | Monohull | 583 NM | 616 NM | 4.9 kts | 127 NM | 9 Jun 09:34 | 9d 21h 28m 58s |
| 8 | Catnip | Monohull | 588 NM | 629 NM | 4.8 kts | 124 NM | 9 Jun 11:57 | 9d 23h 51m 30s |
| 9 | Nautilass | Monohull | 617 NM | 621 NM | 4.6 kts | 103 NM | 10 Jun 00:46 | 10d 12h 40m 1s |
| 10 | Smoko | Monohull | 669 NM | 527 NM | 4.1 kts | 108 NM | 11 Jun 03:48 | 11d 15h 42m 2s |
| 11 | Diablo | Monohull | 675 NM | 538 NM | 4.1 kts | 105 NM | 11 Jun 06:53 | 11d 18h 47m 28s |
| 12 | Fair Seasons | Monohull | 743 NM | 496 NM | 3.5 kts | 123 NM | 13 Jun 05:17 | 13d 17h 11m 7s |
| — | Wave (retired — returning to NZ) | Monohull | Still above top of North Island | |||||
| — | Pretty Boy Floyd (retired — safely back in Opua) | Monohull | — | |||||
| — | Robbery (retired — safely in Mangōnui) | Monohull | — | |||||
Provisional results. Last position update: 4 Jun 10:00 NZST. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue. Note: YellowBrick tracker was offline approx 8am NZST; AIS data used during outage.
Peter Nobbs’ B&G 36 Smoko and Peter Bourke’s S&S 8.7m Diablo are making 108 and 105 NM per day respectively — solid progress but a long way from the finish at 669 and 675 NM DTF yet close after 117 hours racing. Doug Esterman’s Cavalier 39 Fair Seasons has found some pace at last, posting 123 NM in 24 hours — one of her best figures of the race. She’s at 743 NM with a projected finish of 13 June.
Glen Jeffery’s Grand Soleil 50 Wave is still making slow progress above the top of the North Island on her way home, progress hampered by the same light conditions that frustrated the fleet at the start of the week.
The YellowBrick tracker outage this morning forced the Race Committee and followers to rely on AIS data for a period. Race conditions permitting, we expect the tracker to continue providing position updates through the finish.
