2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup Race: Chasing the Winds, Embracing the Journey
by Melbourne Osaka Cup media 31 Mar 21:13 PDT
1 April 2025
The yacht of the first two starts have broken free. No longer trapped in the doldrums, Zero, Curious Roo, and Escapade are now riding the steady northern trade winds, their sails full and their spirits high.
Behind them, the chase continues. A staggering 2,880 nautical miles separate the first starters from
Alive, just starting out.
Out in front, Zero reaches a milestone—the Equator. Yamada, the skipper of Zero, wrote in to say, "This morning, we crossed the equator. In Japanese, equator means a red line, but there was no red line anywhere." Just an invisible crossing and the quiet satisfaction of knowing they've entered the Northern Hemisphere first.
Further south, the main fleet is navigating the Solomon Sea, weaving through shifting winds and navigating the currents. It's
1122 Trekkee—now simply Trekkee, after its numbers were blown off the sails—that skillfully leads the pack halfway up Bougainville Island before being becalmed.
Meanwhile, Alive back in Bass Strait is sailing steadily, eighteen hours in, well past Wilsons Promontory. Choosing the coastal path as they cross the paddock and round Gabo Island, in order to slip by the East Coast Low, now moving well offshore.
But what does a sailor do with all this time when they aren't trimming sails, calculating tacks, or pouring over navigation projections? Before the race, one competitor dismissed the idea of slowing down to admire the scenery. "We're not here to take in sunsets—we're serious racers," they had said.
And yet, even the most focused sailor can't ignore the artistry around them. The towering cloud formations, the golden hues of sunrise and sunset, and the amazing nightly star formations. And every now and then, a red-footed booby swoops in, a reminder that even in a race, the ocean has its own way of keeping you entertained.
In the longest double-handed north-south race, where the "chocolates" are awarded based on elapsed time for both line and handicap wins, it's early days with only another month of racing to come.