Melbourne Osaka - Good Friday brings promise

by Di Pearson on 6 Apr 2007 Sailing off the Deboyne Islands to the east of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea, the Japanese 16m Schooner, COCORIN interland Itaru Matsunaga/John Bankart is still in the lead of the 5,500 nautical mile Melbourne Osaka double handed yacht race.

Putting in a 128nm run in the past 24 hours, Matsunaga and Queenslander John Bankart now have an 80mn lead over their injured adversaries Patrick Guidice/Brian Pattinson (Gusto). The Victorian Gusto crew is nursing the boat due to a broken gooseneck.

Brian Pattinson reported this morning: 'Flying along at 8-10 knots with headsail only. Everything is as it has been from the start.

'Gooseneck is completely broken off from the boom. It is secured and safe. No worries here. Beautiful day - 10-20 knots.'

No further incidents or new damage reported from the fleet on this Good Friday, making for a happy Easter at sea.
As at the 22.00.00 sked (8.00am AEST) RYU-JIN – fgi was still in Bundaberg, but Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer were hopeful of getting their new Sayer 12m back in the race today.
Over the past 24 hours, the only change in line honours order is Jim and Joe O’keeffe moving Hullabaloo up one place in front of Dekadence by 0.2 of a mile; the two sailing almost side by side as a three-way battle between the two and Tamagomalu (Makoto Hisamatsu/Jimmi Doherty) persists.
Phil Coombs and Peter Walsh reported from Dekadence yesterday: 'We are happy - have come out of the opposing current now, and although there is no assist, we are at least making true boatspeed once again.

'We are getting very excited about the prospect of launching into our code zero - and the possibility of re-entering the boat race so to speak!
'We are approximately three or so days from the New England Passage (a massive milestone in itself) so are pleased with the progress so far.'

The three have moved closer on the race leader by approx. 44nm overnight and were situated north of Cape Melville at the top of Northern Queensland at the latest sked.

Asadori, whose crew reported some steering cable damage, which they have now repaired, is approximately 95nm behind the group, with Ingenue following, a further 70nm behind. However, Alex, Jock and Hamish MacAdie’s slippery Jones/Hart 14 is hot on the trail; only 161nm to catch Ingenue, it is only a matter of time.

The Southern Light crew, Tom Crabb/Trent Justice have not given up on their race, currently abeam of NSW coast town Yamba, the home of Jim and Joe O’Keeffe. Southern Light. Crabb and Justice are over 1100nm behind the race leader and 412nm behind their nearest rival, Esoterica.
The expected strong southerly for the NSW coast did not come to fruition, in its place a moderate south-south-easterly, much the same as the Queensland coast received. Instead of gaining miles, Southern Light has slipped further behind, but there is still a long way to go.

Weather:
Bureau of Meteorology forecasts for Northern Queensland for Friday: Peninsula District; Isolated thunderstorms in the far north. Isolated coastal showers. Moderate SE to E winds, fresh and gusty about the east coast.
Further south, expect moderate SE winds and inshore afternoon coastal sea breezes and for the North Tropical Coast and Tablelands District, isolated coastal showers. Mostly fine on Tablelands and over inland parts. Fresh SE winds, gusty at times along the coast.

Argos tracker positions at UTC 22.00.00 (8am AEST & 7am JPN Thursday):
COCORIN interland (Itaru Matsunaga/John Bankart), Gusto (Patrick Giudice/Brian Pattinson), Tamagomalu (Makoto Hisamatsu/Jimmi Doherty), Hullabaloo (Jim and son Joe O’Keeffe), Dekadence (Phil Coombs/Peter Walsh), Asadori (Shinsuke Nishi/Kyojun Fujita), Ingenue (David James and wife Rosie Colahan), Alex (Jock and son Hamish MacAdie), Wild Boar (Shozi Yuneda/Jun Kanda), Esoterica (Campbell Reynolds/David Best), Southern Light (Tom Crabb/Trent Justice), RYU-JIN (Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer – in Bundaberg effecting rudder repairs), Cadi (John and son David Netherton, retired), Wasabi (Ken Down/Shane Gaddes – retired), Runaway (James Ryssenbeek/Andrew McCole – retired - in Bundaberg), Pippin (Roger Sayers/Anthony Bown – retired).