Chasing Osaka - A person recount by Dave Kenny onboard The Secretary
by Melbourne to Osaka Media 8 Apr 22:19 NZST
8 April 2025
L-R Paul Schulz, Jon Sayer and Dave Kenny © Jon Sayer
There's a powerful community spirit behind the 5,500nm Melbourne Osaka Cup, with support showing up in every port and with every challenge. Whilst Alive may have just overtaken The Secretary, a J44 skippered by Paul Schulz and Dave Kenny, it's not a true race moment.
After two major detours and a string of mechanical setbacks, Paul and Dave have shifted gears. They're no longer chasing a podium finish, but embracing the adventure to Osaka with grit, gratitude, and no doubt will have a story worth telling.
A person recount by Dave Kenny onboard The Secretary
"Nearly two weeks into our race to Osaka has seen us take two unscheduled stops.
Firstly, north of Mooloolaba, our autopilot failed. We had two choices on where to go and try and get it fixed, Gladstone or Mooloolaba, and after reaching out to fellow competitor Jon Sayer, who retired earlier in the race, he hooked us up with John Stirling in Mooloolaba who could address our issue promptly.
So we backtracked some 190 miles. On arrival after high tide, we were met by Jon and John who swung into action, found the issue and rectified it within 24 hours so we could continue north.
Before this incident, we had made up some really good ground in the fleet, so we were pretty gutted to have to turn back—but worse was yet to come.
After resuming our journey, not 24 hours later, we were faced with an electrical issue on board. Whilst trying to start the engine to charge the batteries, not only did the engine not start—smoke started billowing out of the engine bay.
Nothing gets the heart racing like smoke on a boat!
With no fire detected and no engine to charge or run, our nearest port of call was Bundaberg, so we set a new course for this. Power was now a real issue, so we basically shut everything down apart from nav instruments and hand-steered some 177 miles to Bundaberg.
With just enough battery power to get us there, we were met by the local Coast Guard who took us in tow to the marina. Once again on arrival, we were met by some wonderful locals, Cheryl and Gary (who were going to do the race on their yacht Ceramco), who went out of their way to support us and make sure we had everything we needed.
The local mechanic also came straight on board, found the issue, and had a plan to get us back out there ASAP. As it turned out, the starter motor had shorted out—hence all the smoke.
By now, we were feeling pretty deflated. Two big detours, some equipment issues, and now losing some 4 days to the fleet. There were certainly conversations around whether we would continue.
I guess this is where family and friends and the community step in. Despite our uncertainties, the amount of support we received was quite amazing.
Our decision to continue was based on a few things. Firstly, we had a few small jobs to do on the boat which were much easier to do at dock rather than at sea (blocked dunny, for one!). So we decided to take an extra day to resolve things.
We wouldn't rush back out there, but instead take the time needed to sort out the issues and also get some good nights' sleep, given we were both a bit ragged after the last week. This helped our mental state immensely and gave us the reset we needed to 'get back on the horse.'
While we are disappointed to now be so far behind, there are always upsides to the downsides. We were fortunate enough to be relatively close to the mainland to get help to resolve the problems.
We also met some wonderful people who are now part of our Osaka family. To have total strangers offer you their cars or support is truly amazing—and again reminds us of what a wonderful journey this is.
So, whilst our podium dream is over, our adventure to Osaka continues."
Follow Paul and Dave as they continue their journey to Osaka via bluewatertracks.com here: race.bluewatertracks.com/2025-melbourne-osaka-cup-double-handed-race