With entries for the 10th Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race set to be capped, more than 125 expressions of interest from 12 countries signal strong international…
The 10th Melbourne Osaka Cup is set to start in March 2030, with expressions of interest now officially open.
Spending 35 days at sea with your daughter might not appeal to everyone, but for Annette Hesselmans and Sophie Snijders — the first mother-daughter team in the race and both accomplished sailors- the experience aboard Fika, their Najad 490, was one so natural and easy as they sailed from Melbourne to Osaka.
The Reichel/Pugh 66 Alive, skippered by Duncan Hine and co-skipper Glenn Myler, has made a clean sweep of Line Honours, AMS, PHS and ORCi in the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Cup.
A resounding yes, they’d do it again for such an amazing life-changing experience, is how Cyrus Allen, skipper of the Beneteau 50, White Spirit, summed up the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka race, which he completed with co-skipper Lillian Stewart.
After thirty-six days and 5,500 nautical miles, the double-handed crew of Joker X2 crossed the Osaka finish line with a quiet sense of achievement.
After more than 5,500 nautical miles and 37 days at sea, Magellan has crossed the finish line in Osaka, and not without some dramas, friendly family rivalry, and a few missing ducks.
After more than 5,500 nautical miles of ocean racing, just 44 seconds separated Quest and Lord Jiminy in one of the closest finishes of the Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race so far.
Robert and Michael Bradley are one of two father-son teams in the Melbourne to Osaka Cup. They crossed the finish line last night, as the drone display from Expo 2025 welcomed them in.
After 5,300 nautical miles sailed, six of the Melbourne to Osaka Yacht Race main starters are within 120 nautical miles of each other, as two distinct strategies emerge while navigating a large Kuroshio eddy just south of Osaka.
Under full spinnaker and charging in at 11.5 knots, Japanese entrant 1122Trekkee, the Roger Class 40 skippered by Hajime Nitta, made a spectacular entrance as the second boat to finish the race. Greeted by a fanfare of cheers, it marked another proud moment for Japan’s growing ocean sailing community.
The Melbourne to Osaka Double-Handed Yacht Race is turning into a dash to the finish, as staggered starters converge on Osaka.
The IMX40 yacht Zero is the first boat to cross the finish line in the 2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup, arriving in Osaka at 07:00:18 (GMT+9) on April 15. Having departed from Melbourne in the second start group on March 9, co-skippers Katsuhiro Yamada and Masayuki Kobayashi were overjoyed with emotion upon completing the race.
As the first yachts approach the finish line in Osaka, the outcome of the 2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup remains wide open. With final standings determined by the shortest elapsed handicap time, the main fleet, along with the final starter Alive, remains very much in contention.
As the main fleet continues to close the gap on the earlier starters, they may never quite catch Zero, now on final approach to Osaka and poised to be the first yacht to cross the finish line, provided they successfully navigate the final challenges.
The first boats to reach Osaka in the 2025 Melbourne Osaka Cup may both fly the Japanese flag.
With just under 700 nautical miles to go, Zero has officially entered Japanese waters. But their journey is far from over as they complete their passage through the transition zone or horse latitudes, crossing the Kuroshio current, which flows northward at nearly 4 knots along the Japanese coast
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.
For mother-and-daughter duo Annette Hesselmans and Sophie Snijders aboard Fika, a Najad 490, recent days have been a masterclass in patience and persistence. Navigating the fickle moods of the equatorial doldrums, they’ve learned to read the clouds, each a promise or a test of spirit.
As the Melbourne Osaka Cup enters its fifth week, the distance between the first and last starter has narrowed to just over 2000 nautical miles, with all now outside Australian waters.
In the early hours of Sunday, April 6, quick thinking and cool heads aboard Magellan averted what could have been a race-ending rig failure, just off Ambitle Island in Papua New Guinea.
Alive is on the move, gliding north like a great white shark, silently closing in on the fleet and picking off competitors one by one. The race now stretches over 2,500 nautical miles, with boats scattered from Queensland Australia, through to Micronesia.
The Solomon Islands serve as a gatekeeper for the fleet, posing challenges for the most seasoned sailors. Here, routing software becomes less reliable, with forecasts often failing to materialise.
Down below in the small, spartan cabin of Roaring Forty, a 1997 Lutra BOC Open 40 ocean racing yacht, a label front and center reads: “Quitting Lasts Forever.” True to that spirit, Roaring Forty has re-entered the race at just after 12 on April 2nd after successfully repairing their boom.
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