Melbourne to Osaka Double Handed Race 2013, 0600 Wednesday 24th April. At the 0600 sked Optimus Prime had less than 25 miles to go to the finish, storming up Osaka Bay in a 35 knot southerly, with “Shipping everywhere”.

Wasabi is less than 40 miles behind and Escapade another 14 miles back at sked time.

At about 2.00 am Optimus Prime reported “.. dodging between ships surfing at 16 knots was different. Bare headed now only doing 11.5-12 drag racing the traffic past I-Shima... having a lot of fun tho :)”.

Cadibarra was about 100 miles behind Escapade at 0600 and with the current conditions should close that gap as they approach the finish.

Spirit of Downunder, Gusto and Turbulence all making good speed now, with the wind strengthening as they get further north. Turbulence reported a 17 knot easterly and 9.6 knots boat speed.

No report from Funnelweb this morning, the tracker still shows yesterday morning’s position.

Kiss Goodbye to MS is still in Saipan.

Southern Cross is now 140 miles south east of Saipan.