Out on the Tasman Sea, the fourth night has settled over a fleet already well acquainted with darkness. Winter days are short out here, and thirteen skippers have been pressing east through black water long enough that the ocean has begun to feel enormous in a way that daylight tends to disguise.
Tuesday had been a relatively unremarkable day by the standards of this race. The opening 48 hours delivered EPIRB activations, rescue operations, and headsails wound around forestays. That early chaos has given way to something altogether more demanding: the patient, grinding work of crossing an ocean mile by mile. The heroes of the opening act have been replaced by endurance.
Oceans Tribute is leading the fleet home, tracking at 9.1 knots with 441 NM remaining. Guy Chester is projected to reach Southport on 4 June at 19:39, fewer than two days from now. Sharon Ferris-Choat on Vixen Racing holds second overall with 534 NM to the finish, the monohull sandwiched between the two multihulls on the leaderboard. James Foster's Mumby 48 catamaran Electron lies a further 20 NM back in third. These three boats alone have crossed the halfway mark. Malcolm Dickson's 55-foot Sarau and Peter Elkington's Young 11 Pacman were expected to join them before Tuesday was out, with Kevin Le Poideven's Open 40 Roaring Forty potentially following before dawn, depending on the wind.
Ferris-Choat sounded in good spirits during the night. "Here comes the moon!" she reported at one point, and not long after a tack: "I have just tacked onto starboard heading towards Lord Howe Island at the moment on a nice lift!" A full moon overhead, a good lift, and Lord Howe Island somewhere ahead. There are worse places to spend a Tuesday night at sea.
The fleet has split into three distinct tiers. Oceans Tribute, Vixen Racing and Electron are out front. Sarau, Pacman and Roaring Forty form the middle group. Further back, Wave, Catnip, Nautilass and Camellia are bunched tightly together, with Smoko, Diablo and Fair Seasons at the rear. Where each boat sits in this race comes down almost entirely to where it found the wind. Oceans Tribute is moving at 9.1 knots, Vixen Racing at 7.9, and at one point earlier in the day Electron was briefly registering just 1.9 knots while others were sailing in pressure. The wind drops and builds as it pleases, and nobody can do a thing about it.
| Pos | Boat | Class | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Est Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 441 NM | 814 NM | 9.1 kts | 228 NM | 4 Jun 19:39 | 5d 7h 39m 30s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | Monohull | 534 NM | 706 NM | 7.9 kts | 173 NM | 5 Jun 14:38 | 6d 2h 32m 10s |
| 3 | Electron | Catamaran | 554 NM | 668 NM | 7.6 kts | 163 NM | 5 Jun 19:27 | 6d 7h 27m 33s |
| 4 | Sarau | Monohull | 627 NM | 569 NM | 6.7 kts | 144 NM | 6 Jun 16:32 | 7d 4h 32m 30s |
| 5 | Pacman | Monohull | 639 NM | 559 NM | 6.6 kts | 149 NM | 6 Jun 20:18 | 7d 8h 12m 1s |
| 6 | Roaring Forty | Monohull | 667 NM | 517 NM | 6.2 kts | 140 NM | 7 Jun 06:21 | 7d 18h 15m 10s |
| 7 | Wave | Monohull | 744 NM | 469 NM | 5.2 kts | 70 NM | 8 Jun 17:16 | 9d 5h 10m 8s |
| 8 | Catnip | Monohull | 773 NM | 426 NM | 4.9 kts | 104 NM | 9 Jun 09:48 | 9d 21h 42m 57s |
| 9 | Nautilass | Monohull | 777 NM | 416 NM | 4.8 kts | 97 NM | 9 Jun 11:54 | 9d 23h 48m 33s |
| 10 | Camellia | Monohull | 777 NM | 397 NM | 4.8 kts | 107 NM | 9 Jun 12:07 | 10d 0h 1m 5s |
| 11 | Smoko | Monohull | 828 NM | 356 NM | 4.2 kts | 82 NM | 11 Jun 01:21 | 11d 13h 15m 7s |
| 12 | Diablo | Monohull | 836 NM | 355 NM | 4.1 kts | 88 NM | 11 Jun 07:51 | 11d 19h 45m 19s |
| 13 | Fair Seasons | Monohull | 920 NM | 303 NM | 3.0 kts | 52 NM | 15 Jun 12:05 | 15d 23h 59m 42s |
| — | Pretty Boy Floyd (retired — returning to Opua) | Monohull | — | |||||
| — | Robbery (retired — safely in Mangōnui) | Monohull | — | |||||
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST. Multihulls shaded blue.
Roaring Forty has had the best day of any boat in the fleet. At the morning update, Roaring Forty and Wave were separated by just 6 NM, a gap that had barely shifted across nearly 24 hours of sailing. By the evening position, Le Poideven had stretched that into a much wider margin. He found the squalls and used them. Wave, covering only 70 NM across the same period, could not.
The most compelling battle on the tracker right now is unfolding in the middle of the fleet. Catnip, Nautilass and Camellia are covered by just 4 NM on distance to finish, at 773, 777 and 777 NM respectively. Camellia and Nautilass share an identical DTF, yet Camellia has sailed almost 20 NM less to reach that same position. Ben Ball's more north-easterly routing is paying off in distance efficiency, even if the light air has been maddening. He will be watching both the wind forecast and his competitors closely as the night draws on.
| Pos | Boat | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarau | 0.798 | 627 NM | 569 NM | 6.7 kts | 144 NM | 6 Jun 16:32 | 5d 17h 41m 18s |
| 2 | Vixen Racing | 0.941 | 534 NM | 706 NM | 7.9 kts | 173 NM | 5 Jun 14:38 | 5d 17h 53m 26s |
| 3 | Pacman | 0.840 | 639 NM | 559 NM | 6.6 kts | 149 NM | 6 Jun 20:18 | 6d 4h 0m 30s |
| 4 | Camellia | 0.706 | 777 NM | 397 NM | 4.8 kts | 107 NM | 9 Jun 12:07 | 7d 1h 27m 10s |
| 5 | Roaring Forty | 0.919 | 667 NM | 517 NM | 6.2 kts | 140 NM | 7 Jun 06:21 | 7d 3h 9m 59s |
| 6 | Diablo | 0.660 | 836 NM | 355 NM | 4.1 kts | 88 NM | 11 Jun 07:51 | 7d 19h 16m 43s |
| 7 | Smoko | 0.685 | 828 NM | 356 NM | 4.2 kts | 82 NM | 11 Jun 01:21 | 7d 21h 55m 3s |
| 8 | Wave | 0.872 | 744 NM | 469 NM | 5.2 kts | 70 NM | 8 Jun 17:16 | 8d 0h 51m 33s |
| 9 | Nautilass | 0.824 | 777 NM | 416 NM | 4.8 kts | 97 NM | 9 Jun 11:54 | 8d 5h 36m 10s |
| 10 | Catnip | 0.851 | 773 NM | 426 NM | 4.9 kts | 104 NM | 9 Jun 09:48 | 8d 10h 17m 46s |
| 11 | Fair Seasons | 0.696 | 920 NM | 303 NM | 3.0 kts | 52 NM | 15 Jun 12:05 | 11d 3h 15m 38s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
On PHRF corrected time, the standings have shifted once more. Sarau has reclaimed the lead from Vixen Racing, though the margin is razor thin. After 79 hours of racing, just twelve minutes separate the two boats. Sarau's handicap of 0.798 is doing its work, but Vixen Racing's pace of 173 NM in 24 hours against Sarau's 144 NM makes that lead fragile. A single strong night from Ferris-Choat and it is gone. Camellia, carrying a handicap of 0.706, has quietly moved into fourth on corrected time. She needs more pace to make anything of it, but she is one to watch.
Under NZ Multihull Handicap (NZ Multihull Yacht Club), Electron continues to lead Oceans Tribute, though the gap has narrowed sharply. A 6-hour advantage at the morning update had compressed to just under 2 hours by evening, with Electron on 5d 1h 0m and Oceans Tribute on 5d 2h 56m. Chester is closing fast, and if Oceans Tribute finds the right conditions on the run into Southport, Electron's NZ Multihull Handicap (NZ Multihull Yacht Club) lead could be gone before either boat reaches the finish.
| Pos | Boat | Class | Handicap | DTF | Dist Sailed | VMG | 24h DMG | Est Finish | Corrected Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Electron | Catamaran | 0.799 | 554 NM | 668 NM | 7.6 kts | 163 NM | 5 Jun 19:27 | 5d 1h 0m 57s |
| 2 | Oceans Tribute | Trimaran | 0.963 | 441 NM | 814 NM | 9.1 kts | 228 NM | 4 Jun 19:39 | 5d 2h 56m 6s |
Provisional results. Last position update: 2 Jun 19:00 NZST. All times NZST.
Pretty Boy Floyd is visible on the tracker heading back towards Opua, likely somewhere near the Three Kings Islands by now. Fair Seasons was the last of the Southport-bound fleet she passed on her way home.
What awaits the remaining fleet is 22 to 25 knots on the approach to the Australian coast, with gusts to 35. After what crews experienced off North Cape, those numbers will look manageable enough on paper. They are easier to read from dry land. Four nights of broken sleep and stretches of frustrating light air extract a real toll, and conditions that might feel routine in the first 24 hours of a race demand everything from people already running on a deficit. By the end of tomorrow, close to half the fleet should have the finish line within their sights.
The second half of this race is only just getting started.
