Tamagomalu finishes Melbourne Osaka

by Di Pearson on 30 Apr 2007 Japanese entry Tamagomalu this afternoon became the sixth yacht to cross the finish line of the 5,500 nautical mile 2007 Melbourne Osaka yacht race.

Makoto Hisamatsu and his Queensland co-skipper Jimmi ‘The Magician' Doherty finished the race at 16 hours 16 minutes 12 seconds (AEST) on April 30, (06h 16m 12s April 30 UTC), with an elapsed time of 36 days 03h 16m 12s, after battling Dekadence for most of the distance. Like those before them, the windless bay leading to the Osaka finish line meant a slow crawl to the line.

After leading the Victorian yacht in the early part of the race, Hisamatsu and Doherty were unable to maintain in the final stages of the race, but the two are happy.

The Queenslander and his 28 year old skipper from Hyogo in northern Japan, who represents the Ichimonji Yacht Club, contested the race in 1999. Due to mast and rudder damage, they finished the race in the middle of the prize giving ceremony!

This time they arrived well and truly before the celebrations begin. With another six yachts yet to finish the race and the tailenders unlikely to arrive for at least another four days, Tamagomalu’s crew are home in plenty of time.

The two are lucky to be in the race at all. On the way to Melbourne for the start, Tamagomalu was dismasted south of Sydney, the mast breaking in two places. They arrived at Waterfront City at the Docklands, where competitors were berthed, just in time to complete final paperwork and jump on board to head to the start line off Williamstown.

'That was an extremely long and painful ride to get into the bay, it seemed to go on forever' were Doherty’s first words on stepping ashore.

Hisamatsu said: 'Also painful was when I called to Jimmi below that we needed a masthead kite – he thought I said masthead light – so I got no spinnaker. I didn’t understand the problem until later!'

Doherty explains how Dekadence got away from them in the final miles: 'Dekadence got through the tide and shot ahead, but had a slow ride to the finish. We got caught in the tide change and went backwards, but made good time when we got to the bay. We spent four hours looking at one beacon. It was like being becalmed in the Derwent River, the last part of the Sydney Hobart race.'

The hardest part of the race, the Magician says, 'was going backwards at 2.6 knots in 4 knots of breeze against a 3-4 knot current. In the Carolina Islands – that was horrible. But we are very happy to be here, both of us, and we’re going to have a few drinks to celebrate tonight.'

This is Hisamatsu’s second race, and his second with Doherty, who is on his fourth Melbourne Osaka. The Japanese architect says that at age 16, he came to know Kojiro Shiraishi who circumnavigated the globe single-handed over 12 years ago and found that a yacht could take you to the world, inspiring him to enter the race for the first time in 1999.

Ironically, that same Kojiro Shiraishi is currently sailing Spirit of Yukoh (named after his own hero) from Virginia in the USA to Bilbao on the third and final leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Race, and is currently in second place.

For three years at high school, Hisamatsu, who was recently engaged to be married, enjoyed dinghy and keelboat sailing. In 1997 when the City of Osaka hosted a tall ship race from Hong Kong to Osaka, the yachtsman joined the event aboard Tamagomalu under the former owner and also met Doherty, who speaks some Japanese.

Not long after, he studied in Australia for nine months and met up with 'The Magician' yachtsman, who is known as one of ‘The Three Amigos' in yachting circles. The two decided to enter the 1999 Melbourne Osaka with Tamagomalu.

Hisamatsu said: 'We got knocked down twice in that race, so this will be a kind of revenge - same boat and the same co-skipper!'

Doherty, who lives aboard his yacht in Manly, Queensland, had his first taste of the race in 1995 aboard Raika, which took 38 days, then 1999 aboard Tamagomalu, taking 48 days and in 2003 on TMQ Marine, which took 35 days. In this 2007 race, the Sydney Hobart veteran finished just outside his personal best.

Six yachts remain at sea. Southern Light leads the first group, 263 miles from the finish. Behind her, Hullabaloo and Asadori continue their battle, the NSW boat .6 of a mile in front of her Japanese rival at 6.00pm AEST.

Behind them, Wild Boar and Ingenue have crossed into the Tropic of Cancer, a tiny 7 miles now separates the two who have 633 miles to go and look settled in to travel to Osaka in tandem. Esoterica tonight is plodding along 170 miles behind Ingenue.

From David James on Ingenue today: 'We are both well and enjoying a terrific sail - tearing along going like the clappers! The boat is not crashing and bashing, just climbing over the waves nicely, with occasional water over the deck.

'We can move freely around the boat and if it becomes uncomfortable, we just slow it down a little. We estimate it will take 41 days to complete the race, so we should be in Osaka for the weekend.

'Wild Boar is still ahead of us by 11 to12miles, but we made a little ground overnight. At present wind is north- east at 18-19 knots apparent and we expect good wind for next four to five days. We are sailing on 2 to 2.5 metre seas under full main and No. 1 headsail doing 8-9 knots boat speed.'

Weather from Roger Badham:

070430 0530Z
Winds are average winds at 10m – no gust.

GALES
TUE 01
A region of gale force SE-S-SSW winds are expected with a front that is expected to cross the race rhumb line during Tuesday 1st May with SE-S-SW winds of 35-45 kts – the strongest winds expected between 30N and 33N immediately ahead of the front with W/25-35 behind the front.

AREAS AND WIND
TUE 01 29N to 33N and 132E to 139E SE-SW/35-45 kts
WED 02 north of 30N and east of 140E S/35-45; ie front clear to the east of the rhumb line

SUN 06
A following front on Sunday 6th may have near gale strength S-SW winds of 30-35 kts between 30N to 33N and 132E to 140E, that front crossing the rhumb line during the day and clearing to the east that night.

Argos tracker positions at UTC 08.00.00 (6pm AEST & 5pm JPN Monday April 30):

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), Hullabaloo (Jim and son Joe O’Keeffe), Asadori (Shinsuke Nishi/Kyojun Fujita), Wild Boar (Shozi Yuneda/Jun Kanda), Ingenue (David James and wife Rosie Colahan), 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).