Osaka Cup 2007 -

29 March 2007

RYU-JIN new leader   

At the latest Melbourne Osaka sked, Wasabi was abeam of Wollongong on the NSW South Coast, 48 nautical miles from her Sydney destination where co-skippers Ken Down and Shane Gaddes will be able to assess their rudder situation.

Wasabi’s sistership and fellow Queensland entry, RYU-JIN – fgi (Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer) is now in the box seat, with an approximate 24nm lead over Gusto.

Heading east of north, Bucknall and Sayer are almost abeam of Wollongong, with Gusto, co-skippered by Patrick Giudice/Brian Pattinson (Vic), around 25nm astern, sailing a more easterly course after taking a tack out from the coast yesterday.

Worth watching is Jock and Hamish MacAdie aboard Alex, currently behind Gusto. After arriving late to the start, the father and son from Melbourne have sailed their Jones/Hart 14m to the front end, but are on a more easterly course than RYU-JIN.

The Bucknall boat will take some catching. Currently averaging 5.5 knots, Gusto and Alex-Team MacAdie are doing 4.6 and 3.9 knots respectively.

However the race is not all about who gets there first. The fleet ranges in size from the little 10.76m Wild Boar to Gusto at 18m and is split into divisions according to type, age and size. The real race comes down to who sails best to their handicap allowance.

Tail ender, Asadori (JPN), co-skippered by Shinsuke Nishi/Kyojun Fujita, is now approximately 180nm behind the leader, but doing good average speeds of 5.8 knots,

On Runaway, Andrew McCole reported this afternoon: “If someone is playing some sick game with 'Huey' (the wind God), can you please cut it out!

“Well, today is day five of being smashed into waves and dropped 15-20 feet into troughs with wind on our nose at every turn. You might think that this would get frustrating after a while.... but I can tell you that it is particularly so when it starts raining as well!

“I doubt such crap weather could ever have been anticipated, and if it had, I may well be at home now like all you guys! Having said that, it is forecast to improve (4 hours ago!) Hopefully we'll get to make up some good miles tonight and tomorrow under spinnaker (for the first time!)

“It has been slow going, sailing many miles for little advance due to adverse wind directions. After finally rounding Gabo Island yesterday afternoon, we thought our troubles were over, but alas, they had just begun. The East Australian Current is running particularly strongly at the moment and it, like the wind, is against us.

“Under 'normal' racing conditions, we could possibly expect to be north of Newcastle by now, but instead are approaching abeam Ulladulla, 30 miles further out to sea than we wanted to, be because of the wind change that never arrived!

“Quite obviously, there is palpable frustration on board at the moment. Nothing is easy under these conditions. Every bone jarring drop off a wave throws you off balance and stops the boat, making walking, eating, drinking sleeping and navigating (not to mention typing) all very difficult.

“Sweet respite in the form of some downwind (flat boat - no bone jarring) sailing must be close at hand.

“On a positive note, we feel we're pretty well placed at the moment, and have stuck to our plan, which seems to be working.

“Staying focused on keeping the boat speed at its optimum, and trying to make tactical decisions is a little challenging when one is so tired, but we are getting used to it.

“Well, I'm off to have another look at the weather, throw my arms in the air and swear. A LOT. If I find out someone has done a deal with Huey....”

Cadi, the Jones 13m, is presently in Eden, as her Mooloolaba co-skippers John Netherton and his son David attempt to repair a split fuel tank, while Pippin is due into Eden at 6.00pm, where both are sure to get a warm welcome from this fishing port. Neither boat has signalled their intention to retire from the race at this stage.

About The Race:
Staged every four years, the Organising Authority for the Melbourne-Osaka Yacht Race is made up of City of Melbourne, City of Osaka Promotional Council, Osaka Hokko Yacht Club, Sandringham Yacht Club and in association with Yachting Australia.

The event was first held in 1987 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the opening of the Port of Osaka and celebrates the sister city relationship between Melbourne and Osaka.

Race Record: Grant Wharington and Scott Gilbert on the 50ft Wild Thing in 1995, in the time of 26 days 20 hours 47 minutes 6 seconds, with an average boat speed of 8.5 knots

Positions from the Argos tracker on 29.03.07 at UTC 0.6.00.00 (4.00pm AEST & 3.00pm JPN):
Wasabi (Ken Down/Shane Gaddes - heading to Sydney) RYU-JIN (Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer), Gusto (Patrick Giudice/Brian Pattinson), Alex (Jock and son Hamish MacAdie), Dekadence (Phil Coombs/Peter Walsh), Runaway (James Ryssenbeek/Andrew McCole), Hullabaloo (Jim and son Joe O’Keeffe), COCORIN interland (Itaru Matsunaga/John Bankart), Tamagomalu (Makoto Hisamatsu/Jimmi Doherty), Ingenue (David James and wife Rosie Colahan), Southern Light (Tom Crabb/Trent Justice), Esoterica (Campbell Reynolds/David Best), Pippin (Roger Sayers/Anthony Bown – heading to Eden), Wild Boar (Shozi Yuneda/Jun Kanda), and Asadori (Shinsuke Nishi/Kyojun Fujita). Cadi (John and son David Netherton, in Eden),

Di Pearson