Tasmanian woman to lead Melbourne to Osaka fleet to sea
by Peter Campbell 14 Mar 2018 12:17 PDT
From 15 March 2018
Morning Star - Maria Island Race © Peter Campbell
Young Tasmanian yachtswoman Joanna Breen is steering her S&S34 Morning Star from Melbourne's Port Phillip out into Bass Strait to be the first yacht away in the staggered start for the Melbourne to Osaka Ocean Race.
Ahead of her and co-skipper Peter Brooks is a non-stop, double-handed race of 5,500 nautical miles from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere, finishing in the Japanese seaport of Osaka.
The race was first conducted in 1987 and was recently ratified by World Sailing as one of the great yacht races in the world.
Two more yachts will set sail next Sunday, 18 March with most of the fleet setting sail the following Sunday, 25 March, including another Tasmanian boat in the fleet of 19, Force Eleven, an Adams 11.9 sailed by Tristan Gourlay and Jamie Cooper, also members of Tamar Yacht Club.
Both Morning Star and Force Eleven competed in this season's Maria Island Race, completing their qualifying voyages in the Melbourne to Hobart West Coaster.
The S&S 34 has become a classic vessel with an enviable record of being the choice for successful young Australian circumnavigators, Jessie Martin's in Lionheart and Jessica Watson in Ella Bache.
Jo Breen, as the youngest competitor in this Osaka race has also chosen this proven design and is one of three female co-skippers amongst the 38 sailors competing.
Although Launceston based, she is a well-known skipper and crew in the SB20 class racing in Hobart and competed in January world championship.
Despite her youth, Jo is current Vice Commodore of Tamar Yacht Club and holds an RYA (Royal Yachting Association) Yachtmaster offshore certificate.
With 30,000 blue water miles under her belt including trans Atlantic and trans Pacific crossings and a solo delivery from the Azores to UK, Jo has a boatload of experience to undertake the voyage ahead.
Jo's co-skipper Peter Brooks is a member of neighbouring Port Dalrymple Yacht Club (PDYC) at Beauty Point, Tasmania.
Peter and Jo first raced together on a Knoop 39 in 2014 and since then have clocked up several deliveries together and nailed a win in the Corinthian division of the 2016 Sydney to Hobart with Jo as navigator and Peter on the bow of Cromarty Magellan.