LORD JIMINY

Skipper:Chris Barlow

Co-Skipper: Paul Roberts

Sail Number:SM119

Design:Class 40

Draft:3

LOA:12.2

Beam:4.5

Chris Barlow will be taking on the 2018 Melbourne to Osaka race aboard his Class 40 Lord Jiminy with experienced co-skipper Paul Roberts. This race should suit the Class 40 Verdier designed boat, which loves reaching conditions and hopefully these conditions will be provided.

Chris Barlow is an experienced blue water ocean sailor gained from his previously owned ocean sailing boats and is looking forward to lots of fast off the wind sailing to Osaka.

Paul competed in the 2013 Melbourne to Osaka race aboard his yacht Cadibarra 8, with co-skipper Martin Vaughan. They came in 1st on IRC and Paul is keen to apply lessons learnt from the last race this time around. Lord Jiminy is a similar boat to Cadibarra 8. They both love reaching conditions but the Class 40 has some different sail configuration more suited to two handed sailing with many furling sails.

Chris and Paul have come together late in the program but have sailed in two recent ORCV races. Firstly the Melbourne to Stanley, where they managed line honors and won the two handed division for a race which was on the nose for most of the time. Then in December, the Melbourne to Hobart. This was a challenging race for Chris and Paul, a valuable learning experience in running conditions, where they found it difficult with the kite handing. With room for improvement, Chris and Paul consider they will hone their downwind performance as a result of this race to Osaka.

Chris and Paul are confident they are able to work together as a team and from the races to date they are confident they are an excellent combination. They’re working on many improvements on the boat from the electrical charging and storage systems, through to upgraded galley facilities, including refrigeration and cooking appliances.

With two other class 40 boats in this race, the Lord Jiminy team are looking forward to the fierce competition and consider the navigation and weather routing decisions to be the key for being at the front of the fleet, to ensure a good result.

The sail program has been prepared by the local North Sails Loft in Melbourne, by experienced sailor and sail maker Aaron Cole. Aaron has been very enthusiastic in assisting Chris with the new sails for the Osaka race.

Chris and Paul will be working hard to ensure Lord Jiminy is fully prepared and is ready for racing in late March.