Esoterica crew face gales today

by Di Pearson on 6 May 2007 Only Campbell Reynolds/David Best (Esoterica) remain at sea in the double handed 2007 Melbourne Osaka yacht race and today were expected to face gale force sou-east and sou-westerly winds of 35-40 knots as predicted by meteorologist Roger Badham.

At 8.00am AEST this morning, Esoterica, a comfortable Martz 46, was 129 from the Osaka finish line, were east of Shikoku, on target for Tanabe, the eastern entrance to Osaka’s bay, having sailed a good 122 miles in the last 24 hours.

Prior to starting the race, Reynolds, an experienced sailor of 20 years from Main Beach in Southport commented: 'I am expecting an interesting time.' He can expect that today.

His co-skipper, Best, a Kiwi yachtsman who loves to travel, said he was very much looking forward to finishing safe and sound with minimal damage and to meeting new people.

He and Reynolds have previously sailed in the Caribbean together and should reach the Melbourne Osaka finish line some time tomorrow, signalling the end to the fifth edition of the 5,500 nautical mile race, first held in 1987 to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the opening of the Port of Osaka.

Weather from Roger Badham:

070505 0515Z
Winds are average winds at 10m – no gust.

GALES
SUNDAY 06
SE-SW wind of 35-45 knots expected north of 29N, ahead of a front to cross the rhumb line later Sunday 6th.
Wind turn SW-W/30-35 and ease below gale strength, then turning and easing further during Monday with NW/20-10 knots.

Argos tracker positions at UTC 22.00.00 (8am AEST & 7am JPN Sunday May 6):

Alex (Jock and son Hamish MacAdie) FINISHED 07H 12m 02s (AEST) April 27
COCORIN (Itaru Matsunaga/John Bankart) FINISHED 14H 51m 22s (AEST) April 27
Gusto (Brian Pattinson) FINISHED 03H 52m 13s (AEST) April 28
RYU-JIN (Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer) FINISHED 17H 58m 44s (AEST) April 29
Dekadence (Phil Coombs/Peter Walsh) FINISHED 09H 56m 03s (AEST) April 30
Tamagomalu (Makoto Hisamatsu/Jimmi Doherty) FINISHED 16H 16m 12s (AEST) April 30
Southern Light (Tom Crabb/Trent Justice) FINISHED 01H 43m 41s (AEST) May 2
Hullabaloo (Jim and son Joe O’Keeffe) FINISHED 12H 51m 59s (AEST) May 2
Asadori (Shinsuke Nishi/Kyojun Fujita) FINISHED 14H 54m 51s (AEST) May 2
Ingenue (David James and wife Rosie Colahan) FINISHED 01H 31m 44s (AEST) May 5
Wild Boar (Shozi Yoneda/Jun Kanda) FINISHED 06h 12m 38s (AEST) May 5
Esoterica (Campbell Reynolds/David Best)
Cadi (John and son David Netherton, retired), Wasabi (Ken Down/Shane Gaddes – retired), Runaway (James Ryssenbeek/Andrew McCole – retired), Pippin (Roger Sayers/Anthony Bown – retired).