On the 13th March 2018 I departed Hobart, in Tasmania, Australia on my Beneteau 44.5; Ocean Gem and sailed her solo across the Tasman to New Plymouth in New Zealand arriving on the 21st March. On April I departed New Plymouth with 5 other competitors in the 4-yearly 1,380nm Solo-Tasman Race to Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia arriving on the 10 April finishing 3rd across the line and 1st on IRC (Handicap).

Check out the highlights, lowlights and lessons learned in my 2018 Solo Tasman Yacht Race Challenge on my Beneteau 445 called Ocean Gem. The 1,502nm race took me 10 days and 55 minutes to complete.

Run every 4 years since 1970, the Solo Tasman Race is the second oldest solo race on the planet. It’s across a piece of water that can be nasty to cross on a bad week.