The American maxi Lucky continued to dominate the Sydney to Auckland Ocean Race, rounding the top of New Zealand overnight and setting up for a dawn approach to the finish. At 2.30am NZ time (12.30am AEDT), the 100-footer lay just 150 nautical miles from Auckland, posting a velocity made good (VMG) of 19.3 knots and a 24-hour distance run of 516 nautical miles. After a rough Tasman crossing that saw squalls exceeding 40 knots, the pace of the frontrunner made for a striking contrast with the conditions the fleet had already endured.
Skippered by Bryon Ehrhart, Lucky was tracking for an arrival at Auckland's Waitematā Harbour at around 10.15am NZDT (8.15am AEDT), completing the 1,250-nautical-mile trans-Tasman course in just under three days. That kind of performance sits comfortably alongside her Transpac and Sydney to Hobart pedigree, adding another strong result to a record that already marks her as one of the premier offshore racing yachts in the world.
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Behind her, the fleet was widely dispersed across the Tasman and the Northland coast. Antipodes, skippered by Geoff Hill, had moved into second on line honours, sitting roughly 656 nautical miles from the finish and averaging 10.9 knots. Frantic was close behind in third, 670 miles out from Auckland, while Wings and Cooloola continued further south, both holding steady speeds near 8 knots.
The handicap standings reflected a similar order. Under IRC, Lucky held the lead with Frantic second and Antipodes third. In the PHS division, Lucky remained well clear at the top, with Wings, Frantic, and Antipodes contesting the corrected-time placings behind her. The ORC division was a two-boat contest, with Wings ahead of Cooloola.
Overnight, the Northland coast had delivered steady westerlies well suited to fast offshore boats. A shift to moderate easterly breezes was expected as the day developed, and with that change would come a key tactical decision for the chasing crews: whether to hold a direct coastal line or pull slightly offshore to find better pressure into Auckland.
For those still hours from the finish, the toughest miles of the trans-Tasman challenge were likely already behind them.
