Esoterica’s finish heralds end of race

by Di Pearson on 7 May 2007 Campbell Reynolds/David Best (Esoterica) this afternoon AEST crossed the finish line of the double handed 2007 Melbourne Osaka yacht race, bringing the event to an end.

Esoterica, a comfortable Martz 46, finished in 12th place on line at 17 hours 16 minutes 35 seconds (AEST) on May 7 (07h 16m 35s May 7 UTC) with an elapsed time of 43 days 04h 16m 35s, the last yacht to finish the race, a little over 10 days behind the winner Alex and more than two days behind the 10th and 11th finishers, Ingenue and Wild Bar.

Reynolds and Best declared to officials that they had used their engine a couple of times to get through no breeze areas, a ‘no wind’ situation. Because of this, the two, on finishing, then graciously declared they were officially retiring from the race.

'We had sail damage and I we were carrying to much stuff – we were overweight. We just wanted to get here, so we motored when we felt we had to,' the 45 year old skipper said.

An experienced sailor of 20 years Reynolds, from Main Beach in Southport, admitted: 'We enjoyed the race – well most of it, but I have never raced this far before – it’s too long a time at sea racing for me. I’m glad we did it, but I don’t think I would race such a long distance again.'

Reynolds also said: 'The race took us longer than we thought it would and it was pretty hard towards the end – we had up to 45 knots of wind against a 4 knot tide – and we were doing around 2 knots of boat speed – going nowhere fast!

'We didn’t really get any of the trade winds everyone talks about either. We are both very happy to be here and we’re looking forward to having a few beers now.'

His co-skipper Best is a New Zealander who celebrated his 46th birthday during the race on April 20. He and Reynolds are mates and have previously sailed in the Caribbean together. The two, along with Reynolds’ Japanese fiancé, may cruise back to Australia on Esoterica. 'But we’ll be stopping at a lot of places,' states Reynolds laughing.

In an update, Japanese entry Wild Boar accepted a 10% time penalty under NOR 8-2, her finishing time is revised to 44 days 18h 55m 53s. The penalty relates to her crew using their engine during the race.

Race Director Kevin Wilson, commenting on the race said: 'The Race has been won. I am sure all looked forward to a hot shower and sharing experiences with other competitors.

'Congratulations to Jock and Hamish for a great race. Considering the difficulties experienced on the way, it was a great result for them. Murray and Jon also made up plenty of lost miles and one wonders what may have been if all stayed together for the whole race.

'Everyone is to be congratulated for there effort a truly great feat by all. The team back in Melbourne and Tasmania have been monitoring the progress and we will celebrate when all boats have arrived into Osaka.

'I am looking forward to seeing you all next week. It has been a great event and will be well worth the celebrations at the end.'


Positions at UTC 22.00.00 (8am AEST & 7am JPN Monday May 7):

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) FINISHED 17H 16m 35s (AEST) May 7
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).