The Challenge – 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race The Melbourne to Osaka Double-handed Yacht Race is an extreme endurance sailing event that has grown into one of the world’s greatest long distance, short-handed sailing events. The race has now been run 8 times (on avg every 4-5 years) since the inaugural event in 1987. The length of the race is 5500 Nautical miles (roughly 10,000kms which is 5 x Sydney to Hobarts ) so it will take most of the competitors anywhere between 30-40 days of nonstop sailing to complete the course. The race is scheduled to start off Portsea in Port Phillip Bay in March 2025, and will finish in the Port of Osaka in late-April. The finish of the 2025 race has been timed to coincide with the opening of the World’s Fair in Osaka. The 2025 race has attracted extraordinary interest from sailors from all around the world with entries received from 35 competitors already, the final starting line up will number around 50 entrants. After years of planning and dreaming about doing this race, Grant Chipperfield and Peter Dowdney now have the distinction of being the very first entry received for the 2025 event. The background of our team Pete and Grant have been good mates since their teenage years. They spent many of their early sailing years honing their skills and racing against each other in high performance dinghies, sports boats, and larger keelboats. In 2018, they joined forces for an event in FNQ and achieved a podium result in the popular Magnetic Island Race Week. While at this event, discussions started between the pair over a few beers, about their individual interests in fast emerging global movement towards shorthanded sailing. Further discussions led to them teaming up as a double-handed pairing for the 2020 Melbourne to Devonport race, the 2021 Sydney to Hobart race, and the 2022 & 2023 Melbourne to Hobart races. After successfully competing together in all of these events, the pair have now set their sights on competing in the ultimate double-handed challenge, the 5,500 nautical mile Melbourne to Osaka Ocean race in 2025. Pete Dowdney, long term Sandringham yacht club member After sailing high performance dinghies for a few years straight out of school, Pete’s interest turned to larger keelboats and in particular, the lure of offshore racing. He gained a solid reputation for his technical skills on the foredeck, and this in turn led him to being selected as the bowman on Steak n Kidney for the 1987 America’s Cup Defender Series in Perth, and again in 1991 onboard Challenge Australia in San Diego. A host of other major events & races followed with some of the more notable ones being:
Grant Chipperfield, long term Mornington yacht club Member Grant’s Sailing skills and experience comes from racing off-the-beach dinghies from an early age. He sailed sabots, International Cadets and Sharpies, before moving across to one design keelboats such as J24’s, & Etchells. Along the journey he has been fortunate to have sailed with Olympic, World and National champions. He then progressed into owning and skippering, his own Trailer Sailers and Etchells (this was where the Joker name first appeared) In 2007 he purchased a Lyons 39, naming it “Geomamtic Joker”. Grant successfully campaigned it in two successive Sydney to Hobart Yacht Races and achieved a 2nd place result in the Melbourne to Hobart. Grant went on to buy the Elliott 1250 Tourer, naming it “Joker on Tourer” in 2015. In this boat he and Peter achieved significant success in local and interstate regattas, focusing on refining their short-handed sailing skills and systems. Notable results & races achieved by the pair in “Joker on Tourer” include:
After campaigning the Joker on Tourer solidly for the past three years, we both came to the same conclusion that to be successful in the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Race, they needed a more powerful boat that would give them better speeds in lighter wind conditions. After returning from the 2022 Melbourne to Hobart Race we started shopping around and settled on their new yacht in March 2023. Introducing the new yacht – Joker X2 After an exhaustive search throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia, we found what we feel is the perfect boat for our Melbourne to Osaka program. The design is a J133 which is a French-built, American design which is 13.30m (43 feet) long and weighs a little under 8T. We have named the boat JOKER X2, continuing the long line of Jokers, but also recognizing our focus on 2-handed racing. The J133 is highly regarded for being a fast, well-built, and extremely offshore capable yacht. They also rate well under most of the current handicap rating systems, so we feel that this combination will give us the best chance of success across multiple handicap divisions. Joker X2 is currently undergoing a total review of all of its hardware, electrical and sailing control systems. Our aim is to apply what we have learned from the past three years of 2- handed racing, giving us a significant head start in the preparation of this boat. Our first serious hit out was the ORCV 2-Handed Bay Race in August where we placed a very creditable 2nd place, overall. the Melbourne to Devonport in November which we placed 1st , 2023 Melbourne to Hobart Race unfortunately blowout our mainsail but sƟll manage to finish 2nd DH and 5th ORC and in our latest race Melbourne to king Island 1st DH and 3rd overall. Our plans for 2024 include finishing off sailing season competing in a couple of local offshore events, then some refit work over winter before taking the boat to Sydney to compete in the Short-handed Offshore bluewater point score and the 2024 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Race. The Osaka Cup is a 5,500 nautical mile 2-handed yacht race that starts in Melbourne and finishes in the Port of Osaka, Japan. It is only South-North long distance ocean race in the world. The route passes through multiple weather systems and seasons as it crosses the Pacific Ocean. The race starts off Portsea Pier in March 2025, taking the competitors into Bass Strait, and up the east coast of Australia. At some point, the boats will cross over the East Australian current and into the South easterly trade winds, which will carry them through the Solomon Islands and up into the doldrums near the equator. After crossing the equator, the competitors will move into the North Easterly trade winds and the equatorial currents, before fighting the Kuroshio (Japan current), which flows along the Pacific Coast of Japan. The race will take between 28-35 days to complete and finishes in the port of Osaka on Japan’s Honshu Island. The finish of the 2025 M20 Race is timed to coincide with the opening of the World’s Fair in Osaka. Summary of Joker X2’s Sailing program for the next 12 months. 2024
2025
Over the next twelve months, we will be spending a significant amount of money to ensure that the Joker X2 and crew are totally race-ready. This includes investing in several new purpose-designed sails, upgrading our electronics package and self-steering system to the latest technology, and ensuring that we have the best safety equipment available. If anyone interested, we are essentially a blank canvas so please talk to us if you have any other ideas about how we might be able to help you promote your business, brand, or products. Look forward to flying the MYC burgee and receiving the friendly MYC family support hope to see you around the club and speaking with you all about our quest. Cheers, Grant and Pete – Joker X2 Contact details: Grant Chipperfield [email protected] or 0425 713 908 Peter Dowdney [email protected] or 0418 395 941 JokerX2 Hull and Sail plan – potential advertising billboard for your company
Selling them all together as a Pack for $50
1. One Size Fits all Twill Cap ' 60 Years of Sailing' 2. Ladies Lightweight Summer Polo - Size 12 3. Ladies Trans-seasonal Cotton Pique S/Slv Polo - Size 14 '60 Years of Sailing' 4. Polar Fleece Lined Vest - zip needs repair / replacing - Size S If you are interested please contact: Sharon Forrest m. 0412 029 538 Ginan wins prestigious King Island Trophy
Turquoise blue skies and seas, local cheeses, freshly caught crayfish and sizzling rib-eye steak greeted the nearly 200 sun-drenched yachties when they finished the 2024 Melbourne to King Island Ocean Yacht Race over the weekend. The fleet sailed the 114nm race, organised by the Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (ORCV) in partnership with the King Island Boat Club, from Queenscliff to Grassy Harbour to not only savour a strategic and challenging ocean race but to share in the highly sought-after, world-class produce of Australia’s stunningly beautiful island gem, King Island. There was a lot at stake in the 2024 Melbourne to King Island Race with the King Island Trophy for the winner of the race on AMS handicap up for grabs, as well as PHS and ORC trophies for Divisions One and Two. ORCV Race Officer David Schuller sent the fleet on their way at 3am on Saturday morning in northerly breezes of 7 to 10 knots, amidst a forecast heatwave for the southeastern states of Victoria and Tasmania. Photos from onboard the yachts during the race showed contented yachties in t-shirts and shorts, but while the winds may have been light, tactics and strategy were critical for the fleet as they navigated the challenging tides and currents around the island. This year’s race certainly belonged to the J boats, the double-handers, and the newcomers to ocean racing. The contest for line honours was tight from the start between the Cookson 50, eXtasea and the multihull, Peccadillo, skippered by Charles Meredith. Extasea, skippered by Dustin Popp from the Royal Geelong Yacht Club, crossed the finish line at 18:48:19 on Saturday evening, 30 minutes ahead of Peccadillo to take the win. Extasea had a brilliant race winning on PHS and ORC handicaps in Division 1, and finished second on AMS overall, once again missing out on the coveted handicap win which determines the overall race winner. The J111 boat Ginan, co-skippered by Cameron McKenzie and Nigel Jones from the Mornington Yacht Club, continued a strong 2023-24 sailing season performance, with the skippers accepting the prestigious 2024 King Island Trophy from King Island Mayor, Cr Marcus Blackie, and claiming the title of overall race winners. The Ginan team had a great start to the race, leading the fleet through Port Phillip Heads, and adopted a strategy from there to push the boat as hard as they could in what were fabulous but frustrating sailing conditions. “Our strategy was to get out in front early and to just keep pushing the boat forward. “It was quite a challenging race in terms of sail trim and tactics…there were lots of park ups…and lots of transitions in the race. “In those [light] conditions the challenges are to keep the sails optimally trimmed at all times, which can be difficult when there’s a swell running and a bit of slop, and also trying to keep the boat powered up constantly. “Having the crew trimming non-stop can be tiring …we had a constant rotation, so people weren’t on the trim for too long… to keep them fresh,” said McKenzie. Ginan was third over the line but, unlike eXtasea and Peccadillo, which finished the race on favourable tides, Ginan had to contend with adverse currents up the coast on the way to the finish line. “We had it glassing out near the finish… at times the wind was doing 360s… we had a lot of sail changes trying to keep the momentum going… it was very tricky towards the end with very little breeze,” said McKenzie. McKenzie paid homage to the meticulous preparation of Ginan’s navigator, Greg Patten, and to the delights that await sailors who embark on ORCV destination races like these. “Tactically this was quite a difficult race…our navigator Greg Patten did a fabulous job reviewing the weather and the weather models leading up to and throughout the race and I think that was one of the areas that we excelled in, just getting the shifts right and being on the right side of them, and that wasn’t by luck, Greg puts in a mountain of work and is one of the best in the business. “We also had a first timer onboard the boat this year, Daniel Laverty, a young ILCA (Laser) sailor, this is his first ocean race, he’s quite in awe of getting down here [to King Island] and enjoying the hospitality and the camaraderie of the ORCV community. “We love the destination races, and the places that we go to, that most people don’t get to see,” said McKenzie. Joker X2 the J133 boat co-skippered by Grant Chipperfield and Peter Dowdney won the double-handed division from second placed Quest, skippered by Rod Gunther and Peter Tardrew, while Maverick, skippered by Tony Hammond and Rod Smallman, finished in third. Joker X2 also finished in third place overall on PHS and ORC, with the skippers very upbeat after the race which suited the J133 boat. “The actual conditions were superb, with light running conditions all day, but there was enough wind to get maximum boat speed which was nice. “We sailed a relatively straight course down the rhumbline as much as possible until we got to the very end, and then it went pear-shaped in the last three hours. “It glassed out completely as we approached Grassy and we got caught up in the current as you do down here and ended up taking us two and a half hours more than what I projected we would take to finish, which was a bit frustrating, but apart from that, it was a glorious race. “It was like sailing in the tropics without the humidity…take it from me, Bass Strait doesn’t get any better than that. “Tactically, we sailed a pretty vanilla race, we just managed to soak down inside everyone and basically sailed a straighter course and sailed less distance and that’s where we just popped through. “We were a little bit deep when we came out of the [Port Phillip] Heads, but we just chipped away during the dark hours and by daylight we were up on the front row of the grid and got better and better as the day went on. “King Island is just an amazing part of the world, it’s becoming a foodie’s paradise down here, as a destination, it’s a safe harbour, it’s relatively easy to get in and out of, and the King Island Boat Club people…they just turn it on for us which is fantastic,” said Dowdney. The Joker X2 skippers, like several of the other double-handed teams, were also using the race as a training opportunity for the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race. In Division 2, the early race favourite Toecutter, skippered by Rob Hick and Brad Bult, won on AMS and PHS handicap, while Vertigo, skippered by Tim Olding took out Division 2 on ORC. Race Director David Schuller was happy with the race overall but shared his frustrations with the challenges of sailing into and around King Island. “The race started in better-than-expected conditions, we had a lot of wind to get the boats going, but as often happens, you get patches of dead spots, so those at the front of the fleet did really well, and got ahead, and we saw our line honours winners, and the rest of the fleet were left to the vagaries of the wind conditions. “This was really challenging as King Island itself shadows the wind, so we had a lot of boats getting down to one knot overnight, then lifting up and dropping off. “We had hoped that everyone would get through but what this did was break the fleet into about three different groups with the last group finishing just before 10 o’clock on Sunday morning,” said Schuller. The race saw ten retirements due to the weather conditions with Schuller speculating that the lure of the steak sandwiches may have been too much when the teams were battling soft breezes. The ORCV race team had a busy time during the race, but their race duties extended to more than simply welcoming boats home. “We spent just about all of our time at the finishing line listening to the peeps and chirps of the penguins, and there were lots of wallabies coming up, curiously peering into the car when we had the door open just to see what we were doing,” said Schuller. An exhausted but thrilled Tim Hosking, the highly skilled skipper of French Bred and a recent ‘graduate’ of the ORCV ‘Beyond the Bay’ training program, won the special perseverance award (a fresh crayfish for the trip home), in his first Category 2 ocean race. “We received a lot of help in our preparation from the ORCV sailing community. “[In this race] we had some good fun and some great conditions, but we also found it challenging at times… it was very tempting to retire from the race, but we are proud that we stayed the course and finished,” said Hosking. Beyond the Bay is designed to provide sailors with the information and practical skills to plan and complete an overnight cruising passage or participate in a race, with races like this one a useful stepping-stone to future coastal and ocean races.
ORCV News
There’s plenty more coming up to keep all enjoying that different style of racing, whether that be the destination races of Port Fairy or the category 3 Coastal sprint races on the ORCV Calendar https://www.orcv.org.au/calendar March 24th - The annual trip tour of Port Phillip Heads is on Sunday, 24th March, departing Queenscliff at 10.00 am. The tour provides for well-planned and executed transits of the Heads, with an emphasis on doing so in low-powered vessels (like yachts) and provides information to participants on the numerous navigational aids and strict procedures required for safe passage through. For more information and to book. https://www.orcv.org.au/training/rip-tour-of-port-phillip-heads March 29th – Port Fairy Race starts just after midday on Good Friday and is category 2. Crews will enjoy the hospitality of the Port Fairy Yacht club, and boats up to 2.8m draft will mooring in the Moyne River. Entries are open here https://www.orcv.org.au/port-fairy April 20th – Enjoy some category 3 races with the short format West Offshore Products Coastal Sprints. A daylight start and short course which is planned to have crews back home that night. Come try ocean sailing and join the fleet here https://www.orcv.org.au/coastal-sprints A big THANK YOU goes to Hart's Farm who are sponsoring our Twilight Series 3 which starts on Thursday the 15th of February and runs through to Thursday the 4th of April. Hart's Farm ciders are available at the club bar - be sure to give them a try and support their sponsorship tor the last Twilight Series of the season.
Members can receive a 10% DISCOUNT at Harts Farm Farmgate shop in Shoreham, for cider, olive oil, vinegars & cordial when you show your club fob. https://bit.ly/402lCPY . You can also purchase online https://bit.ly/3S0nIh9 using the code MYCLUB and receive the `10% discount. Online orders can be shipped to your home or can be delivered to the yacht club for collection, just click on store pick up & they will contact you with details. Hart’s Farm are sponsors of the new members night. Enquiries to Graeme Hart on 0414238156 To log a maintenance or service request from your phone or device, please scan the following QR code. Upon submission of a request, you can take and upload photos by clicking on the “Add Files” button.
QR Codes can be found on the notice board by Richie's shed, in the members bar and by the office door. Dear valued Peninsula Voice Supporter,
We are very pleased to share with you that our next event will be held on Thursday 29 February 2024 at 6.30pm at the Peninsula Community Theatre in Mornington. Titled ‘Climate Change – Our Home, Our Future’, the event is aimed at sharing information from experts about climate change, and importantly, sharing information about what we, as a local community, can do about it. Bookings can be made here for this free community forum. The free event is aimed at being a positive forum, providing both information and also practical actions we can all undertake to combat climate change. We understand the weight of concern surrounding climate change, and its impact on mental health, especially on younger people. That's why we're dedicated to sharing good news where we can be informed as well as uplifted. Guest speakers include:
We hope you can attend, and ask that wherever possible, you also promote this forum with your family and networks. We had a huge weekend for the Town Planning & Co. Schnapper Point Regatta with 84 participants in 77 yachts - kids, youth and adults. This year we included the Victorian U21 ILCA (Laser) regatta
We received lots of thanks and compliments from many people: “always like coming to Mornington” “great atmosphere” “amazing regatta which was run so efficiently” “great team” THANK YOU to the over 60 volunteers that make this happen. A BIG THANK YOU to Town Planning & Co yet again for your generous sponsorship of our event and to Ronstan for providing prizes for the ILCA event. THANK YOU to the on-water crew, off-water, TAG, sign on, BBQ, yard, tower, IT, coaches and results, plus anyone else that helped out. A HUGE THANKS to Ben Jones and Immi Weber who did so much organising. And a special mention to those that stayed until 9pm Saturday, when the northerly blew up and the rhibs looked in danger, it was most appreciated. THANK YOU to Davey’s Bay for running the green course, and to Sorrento again for your support. It’s a lot of work. We are still a regatta that focuses on the greenies, and the development of all. We encourage those that have never been to a regatta, and aim to give them a life-long love of our sport. It isn’t just about the results, but getting out there and enjoying. Seeing the achievements and smiles makes it all worthwhile. For the full results on the MYC website CLICK HERE> **HIGHLIGHTS** Greenies 5th & 2nd girl - Eva English Opti Intermediate 4th & 1st girl - Lila Donnellan Double Handed OTB 1st - Henri & Miles Levenspiel SSCBC 1st Girls - Lucy Laverty & Milli Grover ILCA 4 3rd & 2nd girl – Mavis Laverty MYC had 5 in the top 8 and it was great to see half the fleet were girls. ILCA 6 3rd - Jack Vermeer ILCA 7 1st - Jack Eickmeyer 3rd - Lachie Weber (who managed to get a one race in between shifts behind the bar on Saturday!) ![]() The Sailing Instructions for the 2024 Schnapper Point Regatta & ILCA U21 Championships have now been released. It's going to be an awesome weekend with over 70 boats competing! Click here to head over to Regatta HQ to read and download the SIs. ![]() The Special Sailing Instructions for the Navigators' Trophy Race have now been released. You can find the SSIs on our website under the menu 'Sailing>>Club Racing>>Club Racing Season HQ' or you can click here to download. As you would realise, the team in the tower carefully records the starting and finishing times of each boat in the twilight pursuit races. These are fed into Sailsys to give individual race and series results.
You would also realise that, at times, the starting and finishing lines can get pretty crowded. This can make it hard for us to read sail numbers particularly when you are returning from A buoy to the finish. Reading the numbers will become more difficult as sunset is getting earlier each week. To help us identify every boat in the race could you please:
Richard, Krystine and Steve |
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