Malcolm Dickson's 55-foot Sarau crossed the finish line at Southport at 06:38 NZST on Sunday 7 June, the fourth boat home in the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge and the second monohull to complete the course. Just 31 minutes later, at 07:09, Peter Elkington brought his Young 11 Pacman across the line to take fifth overall and third monohull.
Thirty-one minutes. After more than 1,320 nautical miles of open ocean, that was the margin between them. The two had been in each other's pockets for much of the passage, at one point separated by a single nautical mile on the tracker, and they carried that closeness all the way to the dock.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | Finish / Status | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau ✓ | 0.798 | 7 Jun 06:38 | 6d 4h 56m 35s |
| 2 | Pacman ✓ | 0.840 | 7 Jun 07:09 | 6d 13h 7m 24s |
| 3 | Vixen Racing ✓ | 0.941 | 6 Jun 12:15 | 6d 14h 13m 49s |
| 4 | Camellia | 0.706 | 216 NM to go | 6d 18h 16m 49s |
Provisional results. All times NZST. Full fleet results pending — standings will change as remaining boats finish.
Malcolm Dickson and Sarau
At 79 years old, Malcolm Dickson was lining up for his fourth Solo Trans-Tasman, arriving as defending champion after winning the 2023 race. He designed and built Sarau himself, launching her in 2002, and in the years since she has carried him around the world: through the Southern Ocean, past Cape Horn and South Georgia, and across the Indian Ocean. Before the start he stripped her down with real purpose, pulling out the washing machine, microwave, diesel heater, main saloon table, and bedroom door. The fleet put the total weight saving at around 4,500 kilograms.
His elapsed time of 7 days 18 hours 38 minutes and 44 seconds is the fastest he has ever crossed the Tasman, beating his previous best of 9 days 20 hours 19 minutes set in 2018, the race in which he finished second to his son Hamish, sailing from New Plymouth.
On PHRF corrected elapsed time, Sarau's 0.798 handicap produces a corrected time of 6 days 4 hours 56 minutes and 35 seconds, the fastest in the monohull fleet so far, with several boats still to finish.
| Pos | Boat | Class | Dist Sailed | Finish Time | Elapsed Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 1462 NM | 5 Jun 19:34 | 6d 7h 34m 36s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 1415 NM | 6 Jun 12:15 | 7d 0h 9m 4s |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 1415 NM | 6 Jun 22:43 | 7d 10h 43m 58s |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 1329 NM | 7 Jun 06:38 | 7d 18h 38m 44s |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 1325 NM | 7 Jun 07:09 | 7d 19h 3m 6s |
Provisional results. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue. Full fleet results pending.
Peter Elkington and Pacman
Elkington's connection to the Young 11 design runs deep. His family sailed one for 15 years while he was growing up, and when he bought Pacman in 2018, nostalgia was part of the equation. Ambition took over quickly enough. Forty years had left their mark on the class, and he rebuilt the boat comprehensively from the inside out: a new keel fitted with a lead bulb, a new rig, bowsprit, and rudder, along with water ballast, powered winches, and loose-luff sails on furlers. Pacman came out of the water in late 2022 and returned as a substantially different vessel, weighing around 4.3 tonnes with a keel running almost a metre deeper than standard.
Elkington is under no illusions about the weight. "It'd be nice if it was half a ton lighter." Even so, Pacman still carries a teak interior, hot water, showers, and a microwave.
His offshore background is grounded in two-handed racing, including four Sydney to Hobart races, most of the Australian coastal offshore circuit, and time aboard 50, 60, 70, and 100-footers. His approach to sleep out on the Tasman was simple: take it when you can. Safety got much the same treatment. "Don't do dumb shit. I think that's a pretty reasonable approach."
Pacman's elapsed time was 7 days 19 hours 3 minutes and 6 seconds. On PHRF corrected time, Elkington sits second in the monohull fleet at 6 days 13 hours 7 minutes and 24 seconds, placing him 8 hours 10 minutes behind Sarau despite finishing just 31 minutes astern on the water. That gap traces directly to the handicap difference: 0.798 for Sarau against 0.840 for Pacman. A nostalgic purchase and a boat a man built with his own hands, separated by 31 minutes at the finish line of a 1,170 nautical mile ocean race.
The corrected time picture
Sharon Ferris-Choat's Vixen Racing sits third on PHRF corrected time at 6 days 14 hours 13 minutes and 49 seconds, 1 hour 6 minutes behind Pacman. Her finish came nearly 19 hours ahead of Sarau on elapsed time. Ben Ball's Cavalier 36 Camellia holds fourth at 6 days 18 hours 16 minutes and 49 seconds, still 216 NM from the finish and sailing hard.
These standings remain provisional. Five boats are home. Four boats have retired. Six are still racing.
