March 10th, 10am (AEST) Race Update
In a staggered start, the first four boats are now racing on their quest to reach Osaka first ahead of the main start this coming Sunday, 16th March.
The three starters of yesterday have put behind them so good miles with Zero, the Imx40 Skippered by Yamada clocking up over 122 nautical miles, passing Wilson Promontory a few hours ago ahead by 30 nm of Learning to Fly and 40 nm of Escapade.
As they crawl along the coastline towards Wilsons Promontory, crews look to take advantage of the lighter 10 – 15 knot winds, which will continue to soften before an easterly change comes through later on tonight.
Word in from Alan Paris on the J99 Learning to Fly, “it was a night of many sail changes,” with Alan having time in between to enjoy the company of the dolphins of Bass Strait.
Zero rounded Wilson Promontory, the southernmost point of the race, just on first light.
With a week’s head start on the current fleet racing, Curious Roo has found the East Australian Current last seen taking them on a “joy ride” more east now around 700nm ahead of the chasing fleet.
You can follow the fleet via the race tracker https://race.bluewatertracks.com/2025-melbourne-osaka-cup-double-handed-race
Learn more about the race and whose racing https://melbourneosakacup.com/en/home/