The main fleet in the Sundance Marine 2018 Melbourne to Osaka yacht race will head out of Port Phillip Bay on Sunday, March 25 at 2pm to start the world’s longest South to North race, a journey of 5,500 nautical miles.
Three boats have already started the event with two starts having been held in the past week.
The sturdy S&S 34 Morning Star sailed by Jo Breen and Peter Brooks began the voyage on Thursday, March 15 in calm conditions which saw the start time delayed by 20 minutes. Initially Morning Star battled some wild conditions in Bass Strait. They then battled head winds up the NSW coast but since then conditions have eased significantly.
Those same wild conditions across the weekend, with winds up to 60 knots in Port Phillip Bay, forced a delay in the start for our Japanese entry Bartolome as well as the smallest boat in the fleet The Edge. Scheduled to start on Sunday at 15:00, it was finally decided just on an hour before the start that it was just too dangerous for both vessels to leave the marina at Blairgowrie and so race director Simon Dryden delayed the race until the following morning. Then at 10.30 am on Monday, March 19, the pair finally set out for Osaka (Pic) and have been enjoying the strong but favourable, fast, downwind conditions in Bass Strait.
Here are two video clips that highlight conditions at Portsea Pier on the first two of our starts in the Sundance Marine Melbourne Osaka Cup 2018.
Start No 1 – Thursday March 15
Start No 2 – Monday March 19