Overnight, the Tasman seemed to take its cue from prime-time television. Seven Sharp had featured the 2026 Solo Trans-Tasman Yacht Challenge the previous evening, and the sea answered with squalls erupting from nowhere, wind spiking to 47 knots in pitch darkness, and the YellowBrick tracking system dropping offline around 8am, sending followers across to AIS data to keep tabs on the fleet.
Sharon Ferris-Choat endured the worst of it aboard her Verdier 40 Vixen Racing. Sailing comfortably under a single reef and the J2 in 12 knots, she was caught entirely off guard when a squall struck. "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, brought the main under control, got the J3 up and worked through it, only to find the wind had already disappeared. 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 was focused on recovery: getting food into herself, trying to dry out. "It's bloody freezing too." She maintains she is still in the fight, and the numbers back her up. She sits second overall, 363 NM from the finish.
The night's turmoil has carved into her corrected time position. Malcolm Dickson's 55-foot Sarau has stretched its PHRF corrected elapsed advantage to 11 hours, his 6d 6h 53m well clear of Ferris-Choat's 6d 17h 42m. The 24-hour figures tell the story directly: Sarau covered 112 NM while Vixen Racing managed 69 NM. Dickson found better pressure and made full use of it.
| 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.
In the multihull division, Guy Chester's Crowther trimaran Oceans Tribute is 267 NM from the finish with a projected arrival of 21:27 on 5 June. The NZ Multihull Handicap contest, run under the NZ Multihull Yacht Club, has tightened into a genuine battle between Oceans Tribute and James Foster's Mumby 48 catamaran Electron. On corrected elapsed time, Electron leads by 2 hours 18 minutes, recording 6d 1h 29m against Chester's 6d 3h 47m. Chester is projected to finish well ahead of Foster on elapsed time, but whether that margin on the water is enough to bridge the rating gap and shift the corrected result remains the central question.
| 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.
Immediately behind Vixen Racing, the picture is tight. Sarau, Peter Elkington's Young 11 Pacman and Kevin Le Poideven's Open 40 Roaring Forty are covered by just 30 NM, sitting at 435, 455 and 465 NM DTF respectively. Le Poideven has put together one of the best 24-hour DMG figures in that group at 123 NM and is closing on those ahead, conducting his own race within the race.
Mid-fleet, Ben Ball's Cavalier 36 Camellia, recording a very good 24-hour DMG of 127 NM, is nearly level with Geoff Thorn's Beneteau First 45 Catnip, the pair split by just 5 NM at 583 and 588 NM DTF. Terry Dunn's Nautilass sits 29 NM further back at 617 NM DTF. After days of three-way cat and mouse, a small separation has developed among these boats, though they remain well within sight of one another 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.
Further back, 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 going that has left them close together after 117 hours of racing at 669 and 675 NM DTF. Doug Esterman's Cavalier 39 Fair Seasons has found some pace at last, posting 123 NM in 24 hours, one of her best daily figures of the race. She sits 743 NM from the finish with a projected arrival of 13 June.
Glen Jeffery's Grand Soleil 50 Wave is still working slowly past the top of the North Island on her way home, hampered by the same light conditions that frustrated the fleet earlier in the week.
The tracker outage this morning left the Race Committee and those following from shore reliant on AIS data for a period. Race conditions permitting, position updates are expected to continue through to the finish.
