Melbourne Osaka competitors ready to set sail

by Di Pearson on 24 Mar 2007 In less than 24 hours the 32 sailors aboard 16 yachts in the Melbourne Osaka 2007 double handed yacht race will cast off from Waterfront City at Docklands and head to the Port Phillip start line of Station Pier at Port Melbourne feeling both anticipation and nervousness as they look down the barrel of the 5,500 nautical mile journey ahead.

As David James from the 40ft Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 40 Ingenue pointed out, 'it will be the equivalent of doing 10 years of club racing.'

James and his wife Rosie, a doctor, plan to be away six months, as they will cruise back to Australia slowly after they finish the race and have enjoyed the Osaka hospitality.

'We haven’t had much time to reflect much on the race, there’s been too much to do. We’ll get excited after we cross the start line. It’s amazing how much you have to think about; repairing bits and pieces on the yacht, organising food etc. I am fortunate to have my wife along. She is an equal partner and a very good skipper in her own right.'

Rosie is a bright 54 year-old with a bubbly personality who is also in charge of any medical problems that may eventuate in the fleet during the race. She is the kind of person who instils trust.

Joe O’Keeffe, who recently turned 20, will be racing with his Dad Jim aboard their Adams 13 Hullabaloo from Yamba in NSW and says: 'I am looking forward to a race within a race with people like Murray Bucknall and Jon Sayer on RYU-JIN – FGI and to keeping in touch with the other boats in Racer B division like Asadori and Esoterica.'

Over on the Martz 46, Esoterica, skipper Campbell Reynolds from Southport in Queensland comments: 'We have been in Melbourne for around eight weeks now, so we’re well prepared and we’ve had time to enjoy some diving and fishing.'

Reynolds says he and co-skipper David Best have been planning their campaign since only August last year, a short time compared to others. He says: 'We actually only made the commitment in December!'

Like James and the O’Keeffe’s neither of the Queenslanders have done the race before, but they do have double-handed sailing experience.

Over at host venue, Sandringham Yacht Club, Tamagomalu’s crew, Makoto Hisamatsu and Jimmi Doherty are still battling the clock to make ready their yacht after being dismasted on their sail to Melbourne just over a week ago.

The Japanese skipper and his Queensland crew believe nothing will stop them getting to the start line at 1.00pm.

'Makoto started sailing when he was 18 (he is now 28) and took to it like a duck to water. He works as an architect, which is a big help right now, and he wants very much to finish this race in his country – as do I,' Doherty, known as ‘Jimmi the Magician' says.

The Melbourne Osaka double handed race is held every four years by the City of Melbourne and the City of Osaka to celebrate the sister city and sister port relationship between the two cities.