Peter Bourke crossed the finish line at Southport at 07:00am NZST on 10 June 2026, completing a passage of 10 days 19 hours 3 minutes 57 seconds. He arrived in darkness aboard a 56-year-old kauri yacht, two days after marking his birthday out on the Tasman. The 1,308-nautical-mile crossing placed Diablo ninth overall on line honours and fifth on PHRF monohull handicap, with a corrected elapsed time of 7 days 2 hours 59 minutes.
Diablo is a 29-foot Sparkman and Stephens Half Tonner, built in heart kauri by Keith Eade in 1970. Russell Hume, then Commodore of Royal Akarana Yacht Club, commissioned her, and she was one of only three S&S Half Tonners known to have been built in New Zealand. Built with the Half Ton Cup in mind, she never made the team. Bruce Farr arrived in 1972, and his Titus Canby swept aside an entire generation of full-bellied ocean racers almost overnight. Diablo had barely been in the water a year before she was obsolete.
Racing followed in Wellington, then Lyttelton, before she drifted north to a mooring at Opua, sitting quietly and looking very tired. Bourke found her there in 2020. "Bits were falling off her, sails in tatters and the motor was big on noise, small on speed."
Five years of work followed. Hull and decks were overhauled by Lees Boatbuilders. A Volvo 20hp saildrive replaced the old engine. Gulf Harbour Rigging completely rebuilt the spars and rigging. New Harken deck hardware went on throughout, along with a full North Sails wardrobe, a Neptune wind vane, solar panels, Starlink and B&G electronics, bringing the whole package to Category 1 standard. Bourke's guiding principle never wavered: if S&S didn't design it, or Keith Eade wouldn't build it, it had no place on Diablo.
Qualifying for the race required something substantial in its own right. In 2025, Bourke completed a solo circumnavigation of New Zealand, a figure-eight course of roughly 2,800 nautical miles over 58 days, taking him to within 10 miles of 50 degrees south near the bottom of Stewart Island. Off Puysegur Point, Diablo crash-jibed in the dark, and Bourke came on deck to find the boom flying around in rough seas. He sorted it out. "That was a test of not only the boat, but me."
Halfway across the Tasman, he wrote: "After five years restoring this dear classic kauri keelboat, a circumnavigation of Aotearoa New Zealand, then getting her to Category 1 standards, the Solo Trans-Tasman marks the grande finale in a restoration project and a love affair between boat and man. Diablo is the smallest yacht in the race by a huge margin. She's the only wooden boat that will finish this race. The combined age of man and boat is 130 years. To all friends, followers and supporters, it's great to have you along for the ride."
He kept his word on every count.
The Tasman dealt this fleet everything it had. Light and easily pressed, Diablo heeled hard in strong conditions, and Bourke spent much of the crossing managing that, protecting the rig and sailing within himself. Three reefs stayed in the main for five consecutive days. He was precise and deliberate throughout: "Being a racer you've got to push the boat a bit harder. You don't reduce sails in advance and slow yourself down." He found the balance between the two and held it.
Two days before the finish, the sea offered something back. The morning had been frustrating, light winds, nothing working, but around 1pm the breeze came in and everything shifted. "We've had this beautiful, almost like trade winds, about 15 knots from the east. The sun's out, the sea is really deep blue, and we're just sliding down the waves doing sort of 6 and 7 knots." He was 200 miles from Southport, with a reason to raise a glass. "Did I tell you it was my birthday today? It is. A custom of this race, actually a custom of Diablo; if you have your birthday, you celebrate. Cheers everybody, happy birthday."
Diablo crossed the line fifth in the monohull fleet, behind only Malcolm Dickson's Sarau, Ben Ball's Camellia, Peter Elkington's Pacman and Sharon Ferris-Choat's Vixen Racing.
Single-handed ocean sailing had held Bourke's attention his whole life, through the books, the races, the names. "I've always had a fascination in single-handed ocean sailing. I've read all the books and followed all the famous voyages and races including the Trans-Tasman. Finally, I've got myself into a position where I can set sail myself. I can't wait to follow in the wakes of kiwi solo legends like Bill Belcher, Tony Armit and Andrew Fagan. My kindred spirits."
He has followed in their wakes now.
The smallest boat in the race, by 2 metres. The only wooden boat to finish. Five years of restoration. A solo circumnavigation of New Zealand. And then this. The combined age of man and boat is 130 years. They crossed the Tasman together.
