Four days and ten hours in, and the fleet is heading into its fifth night on the Tasman. Bill Kidman is home — Race Management confirmed this afternoon that the Ross 12m Pretty Boy Floyd has arrived safely back in Opua. Kevin Le Poideven’s response from out on the Tasman summed it up: “Great job Bill. See you at SYC for storytelling.” Sharon Ferris-Choat’s reply from Vixen Racing was quieter: “Glad Bill is home safe.”
The YellowBrick tracker shows Glen Jeffery’s Grand Soleil 50 Wave somewhere near the Three Kings Islands. A similar position to Kidman last evening, perhaps a few hours behind, so we estimate he’ll be back in Opua by mid-to-late afternoon tomorrow.
The night and day have been eventful on the water. Guy Chester checked in from his Crowther trimaran Oceans Tribute early this morning — “a doozy of a night” — and then realising he’d provided an image of his spaghettified cockpit, this morning faced the considerable task of de-cluttering it. So far, he’s done 1,019 NM now, with 334 NM to the finish and a projected arrival of 5 June at 17:01. Tomorrow evening, if conditions allow.
Ferris-Choat has had a dramatic day on the Verdier 40 Vixen Racing. A cloud nailed her this afternoon, dropping her from 35 knots to literally zero. “My course is a little bit south, it looks a bit stupid on the tracker, but it’s what I need to do to try and get into the southerly that’s coming up.” By early evening the view had shifted. “What a contrast to 12 hours ago.” She’d spent all day working the boat, navigating two knots of current, and was rewarding herself with a baby wipe bath and a change of clothes.
Ben Ball on his Cavalier 32 Camellia had the most eventful day in the mid-fleet. Yesterday evening: “Spent two hours bailing. Feeling quite broken after that.” The anchor locker hadn’t been draining, overflowed into the hold, and deposited half a ton of water in the cabin. His assessment: “My own f—-p.” This morning, a different story entirely — “Awesome sailing today. Blasting along at 7 knots. Catnip and Nautilass are just behind me. Both much faster boats, so that’s pretty cool after four days of racing. The ocean is staying outside the boat today.” The image below is of Ben Ball’s cabin before his “half ton of water.”
That observation from Ball was confirmed by Geoff Thorn’s Beneteau First 45 Catnip, who sent a chartplotter snapshot this morning showing all three — Catnip, Terry Dunn’s Nautilass and Camellia — visible on screen together after four days at sea. Dunn, the Commodore of the Opua Cruising Club, checked in with a warm and reflective update. He took his sails off in 50 knots rounding the top on day one and had a cup of tea. Then the wind died and he took the sails off again. A word to competitors in the next Challenge, “Running out of tea bags is our biggest fault.” He spoke warmly of the retired skippers — “our heart’s with you, Billy” — and of James Foster on Electron: “He’s just smoking along. He’s doing so good.”
The fleet picture at 106 hours
There are still five distinct groups in the fleet. Oceans Tribute leads alone, 69 NM clear of Vixen Racing — a gap that has grown from 62 NM at the 11am update. Vixen at 403 NM DTF is shadowed by James Foster’s Mumby 48 catamaran Electron at 437 NM — 34 NM separating them, slightly wider than this morning. Malcolm Dickson’s 55-foot Sarau and Peter Elkington’s Young 11 Pacman sit fourth and fifth at 480 and 497 NM, with Kevin Le Poideven’s Open 40 Roaring Forty 23 NM further back at 520 NM but still clearly part of that group.
The mid-fleet cluster of Ball’s Camellia, Thorn’s Catnip and Dunn’s Nautilass are covered by just 17 NM — 639, 650 and 656 NM respectively. Peter Bourke’s S&S 8.7m Diablo and Peter Nobbs’ B&G 36 Smoko trail 60-plus NM behind at 716 and 718 NM. Doug Esterman’s Cavalier 39 Fair Seasons sails alone at 805 NM, projecting a finish date of 14 June.
| Pos | Boat | Class | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Est Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 334 NM | 1019 NM | 7.8 kts | 85 NM | 5 Jun 17:01 | 6d 5h 1m 5s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 403 NM | 887 NM | 7.1 kts | 116 NM | 6 Jun 06:34 | 6d 18h 28m 51s |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 437 NM | 860 NM | 6.8 kts | 108 NM | 6 Jun 14:22 | 7d 2h 22m 31s |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 480 NM | 744 NM | 6.4 kts | 135 NM | 7 Jun 01:06 | 7d 13h 6m 44s |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 497 NM | 725 NM | 6.2 kts | 129 NM | 7 Jun 05:38 | 7d 17h 32m 56s |
| 6 | Roaring Forty | Monohull | 520 NM | 683 NM | 6.0 kts | 134 NM | 7 Jun 12:28 | 8d 0h 22m 31s |
| 7 | Camellia | Monohull | 639 NM | 546 NM | 4.9 kts | 123 NM | 9 Jun 08:43 | 9d 20h 37m 15s |
| 8 | Catnip | Monohull | 650 NM | 564 NM | 4.8 kts | 113 NM | 9 Jun 13:27 | 10d 1h 21m 31s |
| 9 | Nautilass | Monohull | 656 NM | 568 NM | 4.7 kts | 105 NM | 9 Jun 16:22 | 10d 4h 16m 33s |
| 10 | Diablo | Monohull | 716 NM | 484 NM | 4.2 kts | 106 NM | 11 Jun 01:50 | 11d 13h 44m 4s |
| 11 | Smoko | Monohull | 718 NM | 478 NM | 4.1 kts | 99 NM | 11 Jun 03:17 | 11d 15h 11m 6s |
| 12 | Fair Seasons | Monohull | 805 NM | 432 NM | 3.3 kts | 100 NM | 14 Jun 00:03 | 14d 11h 57m 41s |
| — | Wave (retired — returning to NZ) | Monohull | — | |||||
| — | Pretty Boy Floyd (retired — safely back in Opua) | Monohull | — | |||||
| — | Robbery (retired — safely in Mangōnui) | Monohull | — | |||||
Provisional results. Last position update: 3 Jun 22:00 NZST. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue.
PHRF
Sarau has reclaimed the PHRF corrected lead — 6d 0h 31m against Vixen‘s 6d 8h 53m, a gap of 8 hours 22 minutes. That’s a reversal from this morning when Vixen led by 39 minutes. Ferris-Choat’s chaotic afternoon — losing wind, working against current, zigzagging on the tracker — has cost her corrected time that Dickson has capitalised on. Camellia holds fourth despite sitting 7th on the water.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau | 0.798 | 480 NM | 744 NM | 6.4 kts | 135 NM | 7 Jun 01:06 | 6d 0h 31m 39s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | 0.941 | 403 NM | 887 NM | 7.1 kts | 116 NM | 6 Jun 06:34 | 6d 8h 53m 40s |
| 3 | Pacman | 0.840 | 497 NM | 725 NM | 6.2 kts | 129 NM | 7 Jun 05:38 | 6d 11h 51m 40s |
| 4 | Camellia | 0.706 | 639 NM | 546 NM | 4.9 kts | 123 NM | 9 Jun 08:43 | 6d 23h 3m 16s |
| 5 | Roaring Forty | 0.919 | 520 NM | 683 NM | 6.0 kts | 134 NM | 7 Jun 12:28 | 7d 8h 47m 34s |
| 6 | Diablo | 0.660 | 716 NM | 484 NM | 4.2 kts | 106 NM | 11 Jun 01:50 | 7d 15h 18m 17s |
| 7 | Smoko | 0.685 | 718 NM | 478 NM | 4.1 kts | 99 NM | 11 Jun 03:17 | 7d 23h 14m 30s |
| 8 | Nautilass | 0.824 | 656 NM | 568 NM | 4.7 kts | 105 NM | 9 Jun 16:22 | 8d 9h 17m 0s |
| 9 | Catnip | 0.851 | 650 NM | 564 NM | 4.8 kts | 113 NM | 9 Jun 13:27 | 8d 13h 23m 46s |
| 10 | Fair Seasons | 0.696 | 805 NM | 432 NM | 3.3 kts | 100 NM | 14 Jun 00:03 | 10d 2h 10m 52s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 3 Jun 22:00 NZST. All times NZST.
General handicap
Electron leads Oceans Tribute by 7 hours 22 minutes on corrected elapsed — 5d 16h 7m against 5d 23h 30m. Chester’s 24-hour DMG has dropped to just 85 NM, reflecting the tough overnight conditions he described. Foster has extended his lead since this morning’s 6h 47m gap. The multihull handicap result looks settled unless something dramatic changes on the run into Southport.
| Pos | Boat | Class | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electron | Catamaran | 0.799 | 437 NM | 860 NM | 6.8 kts | 108 NM | 6 Jun 14:22 | 5d 16h 7m 47s |
| 2 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 0.963 | 334 NM | 1019 NM | 7.8 kts | 85 NM | 5 Jun 17:01 | 5d 23h 30m 16s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 3 Jun 22:00 NZST. All times NZST.
