Gusto finishes Melbourne Osaka Cup solo

by Di Pearson on 28 Apr 2007 The 2007 Melbourne Osaka chase for line honours may be over, but the 5,500nm double handed yacht race is just heating up, as three groups of boats chasing class wins have constantly played on the seesaw over the last two days - and the weather has some surprises in store.

Brian Pattinson this morning sailed his Open 60 Gusto from Victoria to the finish line single-handed under the cover of darkness, his co-skipper Patrick Giudice stepping off the yacht in Honiara where the two had stopped to repair the boat’s broken gooseneck.

Gusto, the third yacht to finish the race, behind Alex and COCORIN interland, did so at 03 hours 52 minutes 13 seconds (AEST) April 28 (17h 52m 13s April 27 UTC) with the elapsed time of 33D 14h 52m 13s.

To say Pattinson did a brilliant job is an understatement. In an email sent late last night, the Victorian yachtsman said: 'It is 14nm to Yura Seto, wind directly behind, 8 knots, flat seas. Easy! 'Tell everyone to stay for this party I’ve heard so much about. We will all see the sun come up again....'

This morning, the 49 year old from Lilydale told: 'this is a big achievement for me. I had a ball. The last couple of days were a bit hard because of the conditions. I’m a very determined person; I just wanted to finish. I’m not that competitive though - I didn’t care whether I won or not – I just wanted to see the race through.'

'I’m very tired now. The Alex guys bought me a couple of beers this morning and it’s really hit me. I fell asleep just before the finish line. I wanted to run the engine and thought if I sat next to it, I would stay awake – but I didn’t.

'Next thing I knew, a security boat was blasting its horn and when I looked up I saw a big marker buoy in front of me! Apart from that, I had no trouble sailing up the bay to Osaka.'

Pattinson told how he preserved himself once he was sailing single handed. 'I tended to pull the sails down at night and sleep. I got a bit complacent about shipping, because I had only seen one along the way. One day though, I had to do a crash gybe. I spotted a ship coming up behind me and they move so quickly – and so did I when I saw it!

The Victorian has no explanation as to why Patrick Giudice got off the yacht (which they own together) in Honiara. 'I really don’t know why, he just wanted to, so he did – there was no discussion on why.'

This same situation occurred in the 2003 race, when Giudice stepped off the boat in Eden suffering back problems and Pattinson eventually retired to Newcastle on the NSW Central Coast with damage. Although the boat is big and powerful, Pattinson said: 'I love the boat. It’s big and very comfortable, which is why we bought it. It’s got a good half cabin shelter which I spent a lot of time in and it kept me protected from the elements.

'Gusto is powerful though. It blew so hard at times that I just hung on – it was hard to slow her down. I was waking up every hour or so and checking that all was alright.

Of the remaining nine boats still to finish, Murray Bucknall/Jon Sayer RYU-JIN – fgi have put their feet to the pedal again, leaving Dekadence and Tamagomalu, their mates of the past few days behind by 63 and 65 miles respectively.

With the Japanese province of Miyazaki well to their west, the Queenslanders had 210nm to sail at the 10.am AEST. Pointing the boat just above Murdo at the tip of Shikoku, the western side of the entrance to Osaka’s bay, Bucknall and Sayer are unsurprisingly making good time.

Dekadence and Tamagomalu have their own little race going now, pushing each other to the limit, wanting to get to Osaka first. Both are enjoying the friendly rivalry.

In the next group, Southern Light, Hullabaloo and Asadori are so close, and continue to play cat and mouse, the former two taking turns at leading the group. This morning Tom Crabb/Trent Justice on Southern Light had the slight advantage, 19nm ahead of Hullabaloo and 21 in front of Asadori. The three have passed the Volcano Islands and are on approach to the western side of the beautiful Japanese Bonin Islands.

Crabb and Justice have slowed down over the past two hours; Jim and son Joe O’Keeffe look set to take a turn in the lead today.

Shinsuke Nish/Kyojun Fujita (Asadori) have 574 nautical miles to go to the Osaka finish line, and unless Fujita can get Jimmi the Magician aboard Tamagomalu to conjure up some magic, Fujita will be celebrating his May 1st birthday at sea.

At the back of the fleet, Wild Boar’s Shozi Yoneda/Jun Kanda finally got their wish this morning and will be rubbing their hands together gleefully looking at Ingenue behind them. The two boats are sailing along the Honshu Ridge in the North Mariana’s with the southern tip of Taiwan of to the west.

The Japanese have been working hard to pass the Victorian couple David and Rosie Colahan, but will have to stay on their toes, as their lead is a tiny 5 miles. Esoterica, Campbell Reynolds and David Best’s beautiful cruising yacht, has dropped off a little, now 92 miles from Ingenue.

Rosie Colahan sent this message yesterday: 'We enjoyed our ride from the Caroline Islands to Guam at the southern end of the Mariana chain, sailing in consistent NE trades of 15knots and clocking up very respectable miles around 185nm per day.

'Weather is warm and sunny. We had BBQ lunch of Greek lamb, couscous and Greek salad and discovered a bottle of Bannockburn pinot to enjoy with it. This ocean racing is akin to the longest picnic!

The fleet has interestingly split into four distinct groups. Ingenue, Wild Boar and Esoterica are the unofficial cruising division, sporting biminis, dodgers and other cruising comforts.

'As we are now spread over 1000nm, the various groups are sailing in different conditions of winds and currents so it is difficult to compare performances overall in the fleet.'

And from her husband David James this morning: 'We are both well making good progress - 181 miles in 24 hours (midnight to midnight). Wind is NE 15-18 knots. We are sailing with full main and No. 1 headsail on a smooth sea.

'We've been on starboard tack for one week now - hope we haven't forgotten how to tack! Rosie is thinking of throwing up a spinnaker or MPS. We have one eye over our shoulder, as Wild Boar is going very well. Estimate we should make 40 days to complete the passage to Osaka.'

Weather from Roger Badham:
070427 0520Z
Winds are average winds at 10m – no gust.

GALES

SUN 29-TUE 01
A region of gale force SE-S-SSW winds are expected with a front that will cross from west to east.

The front will cross the race rhumb line midday Tuesday 1st May with SE-S winds of 35-45 knots – the strongest winds expected between 30N and 33N immediately ahead of the front.

AREAS AND WIND
SUN 29 28N to 33N and west of 134E SE-S/30-40
MON 30 28N to 34N and 133E to 139E SE-SW/35-45
TUE 01 north of 31N and east of 140E SW/30-40; ie front well clear to the east.

Weather: Northern Mariana’s – Wind: ENE at 18 knots