Around Osaka Bay Yacht Race. 大阪湾1周レース

ROXY our X-99 Yacht and crew think it is that time again and we thank the Kansai Yacht Club for preparing the  ”Around Osaka Bay’ yacht race once again.

The race start line is set for 19:00 June 5th. The Time Limit (Deadline)  is 16:00 June 6th.

At time of written this memo there are 15 boats entered in the race and I am sure late entries will be accepted.

The annual K.Y.C. “Around Osaka Bay” yacht race is a cheap and yet fantastic event. To the best of my knowledge it is the only race on the Japan yacht race calendar that has a start line set at 19:00. This provides a night start and I can promise you night starts and indeed night racing are very special.

Last year 16 boats lined up just in front of Kansai Yacht Club start line for what turned out to be a downwind spinnaker start.  The start was quite gentle however as the night went on the fleet picked up some nice 20 – 25 knot true and managed some pretty good times running down to the Sumoto mark. The Sumoto mark is set at 34.21.2 N and 134.57.2 E a distance of about 26 miles from K.Y.C start line. I recall I was driving “Spindrift” a Takaii T301 30 foot yacht and we rounded the mark a little after 12:00 am. For our aging sports cruiser that was not a bad time at all. Having traded the T-301 in for an X-99 yacht we called ROXY we are again hoping for some nice winds to blow us around the bay.

Of course a quick look at the boat entry list below and you will see that this years race will be include some very tough competition including a GP42, Three X-35, IMX38, Archambault and on the list goes. Make no mistake these are some very competitive boats and they will be out to win across the line.  Of course this race is not all about top class brand spanking new boats.  Our X-99 is a rebuilt boat of 19 years and she is joined in the veteran class by Lucky Too. So please if you have a yacht and would like to join us, come on and give it a try.

Now if you are not doing anything 5th and 6th of June come on and join in the Kansai yacht Clubs “Around Osaka Bay” Yacht Race. If you can’t make the race then come on out and watch the start you will be glad you did.

Boat Entry List as at June 1st 2010.

IRC Division

SWING           GP42 MOD        1.257
SUMMER GIRL     FIRST 40.7      1.067
RELAXIN’        IMX38           1.057
WAILEA          X-35 OD         1.056
NEUEROVE        X-35 OD         1.056
LAPIN BLEU      A-35            1.034
FIVE STAR       SEAM 31         1.017

WHITE SAIL Division.

C.ROSSETTI     BENE45F5
CYGNUS         DHL35CWS
DYANE          BENE300SPIRIT
FIVE STAR      SEAM31
LUCKY TOO      NIC30
OTENTOSUN      YOK36ON
ROXY           X99
TAM            ID35