2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup closing in quickly
by Di Pearson/Melbourne Osaka Cup media 19 Nov 2024 16:05 NZDT
From March 9, 2025
Large fixed keel yachts are seen racing during the 2023 Ocean Racing Club of Victoria Winter Series Race 4 to Geelong © Andrew Hewison
The reality of the imminent 5500 nautical mile Melbourne Osaka Cup double handed yacht race has bitten as crews, many of them family members, prepare for their qualifying races - the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) Melbourne to Hobart and Rolex Sydney Hobart yacht races, ahead of the big race in March.
First held in 1987, 25 yachts are entered for the ninth running of the Melbourne Osaka Cup (the only south-north long distance ocean race). A more diverse field would be hard to find: Mother/daughter, father/daughter, father/son, all-women, cousins, good friends, Japanese and other internationals will join the hard-bitten sailing combinations.
A 'yachties Everest', this unique race crosses seven of the world's weather systems, so requires strategy and endurance. First off, competitors face unpredictable Bass Strait. Then heading north along the east Australian coast, they must navigate the eastern south-flowing current.
The journey then shifts to the more consistent south-east tradewinds north of Brisbane. But as they approach the Solomon Islands and enter the equatorial zone, competitors will encounter the doldrums, inclusive of light winds and sweltering heat.
When the yachts break free into the north-east trades, the winds pick up and progress accelerates. On the final stretch, the challenge will be crossing the Kuroshio current and navigating the busy waters of Osaka Bay, filled with vessels of all sizes.
Tasmanian father and daughter, Richard and Megan Grant, are readying for the Melbourne to Hobart Westcoaster Yacht Race with the Knoop 39, Magellan.
Richard says, "I'd held the thought for some years that this would be an awesome race to do. I was attracted to it because of the sheer challenge and such a significant ocean crossing."
Megan chips in: "I've known for years that Dad wanted to do the race. When he asked me, I couldn't knock it back. It's a great opportunity, Dad taught me to sail many years ago, he's been there every step of the way."
Richard continues, "As each race came along, the timing wasn't right, until my wife Kathy and I finally bought a big boat - a converted racer/cruiser, Magellan. We've converted it for double handed sailing.
"We just finished the Maria Island race double handed. As we headed into Storm Bay in an ever increasing north-easterly, I had no issues handing the helm to Megan. We've done lots of sailing together and I knew she was capable, even though it was a little brutal and challenging at times, with 25- 30 knots on the nose."
On the Melbourne to Hobart, Richard says: "It'll be a good test of character and our next step in the challenge."
Megan has a lot on her plate. Preparing for the Melbourne to Hobart and the Melbourne Osaka Cup, she is also in the throes of organising her February wedding! After a honeymoon in Japan, the newlyweds will sail Magellan home with her parents.
Meanwhile, two other pairs are making final preparations from Queensland and Victoria respectively, for the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia's Sydney Hobart. However, the two will first do the Cabbage Tree Island Race on 6 December.
Saskia Groen-In't-Woud and French sailor, Maud Demazure, will deliver Groen-In't-Woud's
Nautor Swan 38, Celeste, from the Gold Coast. They met through fellow Melbourne Osaka Cup competitor, Annette Hesselmans (who did the last Cup in 2018).
"I got in touch with Annette, as I wanted to do the race for a long time, but didn't have a co-skipper to do it with," recalled Groen-In't-Woud, who is of Dutch heritage but grew up in Gladstone, Queensland. "She put me in touch with Maud and we had dinner and hit it off straight away!"
Groen-In't-Woud is a 51-year-old mother of two sons, the eldest just graduated, while Demazure is a first-time mother of a nine-month-old boy.
Groen-In't-Woud, who was introduced to sailing by her father at a young age and has since followed her passion for racing and cruising, including when living in Europe and Asia and found Celeste for sale in Finland. "A love affair was born, so I brought her to Queensland after relocating in 2022," she said.
Demazure, who lives in Yamba, NSW these days, is a professional skipper with over 50,000 miles behind her. She sailed extensively through Scandinavia and north western Europe, before bringing her Rustler 36 to Australia.
"We've done about 3000 miles together double handed since August last year. Maud was seven months pregnant for some of the trips. Her husband is a doctor, so we did things by the book," Groen-In't-Woud says.
"I've never done Sydney Hobart before - but we're treating it as just going for a sail. We know the boat heaves to nicely under mainsail. We're conservative, it is a delivery of sorts for us. We'll be checking systems. We're even taking a sextant (to navigate). It's old school sailing. It really challenges you. I did a lot of it in Europe."
Demazure did the Hobart on Cyan Moon in 2022. She agrees: "We're not treating the Melbourne Osaka the same way as the Sydney Hobart, which is four to five days, compared with up to seven weeks.
"The Melbourne to Osaka is long term, how you manage that and the passage through weather systems. The real challenge will be the Doldrums - you don't move, you have critical decisions to make," Demazure says.
Victorian yachties, Grant Chipperfield and Peter Dowdney, are in it to win it. The duo bought Joker X2, a J/133, realising Chipperfield's previous yacht would not cut the mustard. While the boat is new to the Sydney Hobart, her owners are not.
Dowdney grew up sailing and travelling the world to compete. In 1986, the then 20-year-old found himself at the 1986-87 America's Cup as a bowman on Syd Fischer's Steak 'N Kidney. He's done 17 Hobarts to Chipperfield's two, but both have offshore raced extensively in ORCV events.
"We both wanted to do the Osaka and cruise home. The race has always been on my bucket list. It's the concept of double handed endurance racing. Nothing compares to this race, Dowdney says.
"We had this delusional idea we might do the 2018 race, but we were dreaming, not realising how much preparation it took. We kept talking and working towards it by doing a lot of double-handed sailing, mostly with the ORCV."
"We bought a lighter, faster boat and sailed it in Melbourne to Hobart last year, but the main blew apart, so we finished with three reefs in the main. The boat performed beautifully, though, it's a glamour boat.
"We've done a lot of work in the last 12 months, replaced electronics, got new sails. The Sydney Hobart will be our first real test, then we'll be ready to go. We're excited," Dowdney ended.
The Melbourne Osaka's start, off Portsea, is pursuit style, with a starting window commencing on Sunday 9 March and concluding 30 March 2025. The main start is 16 March. Slower yachts are in the earlier start, while the faster models will go after the main start.
The Melbourne Osaka Cup is organised by the Melbourne Osaka Organising Authority in conjunction and with the support of the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria, Sandringham Yacht Club and Osaka Hokko Yacht Club in Japan.
For all information, including entries, please visit: melbourneosakacup.com/en/home.