Tassie twosome ready to race

IT’S longer than eight SydneyHobarts but Tasmanians Jo Breen and Peter Brooks can’t wait to set sail on the biggest adventure of their lives — the Melbourne to Osaka yacht race starting today.

The pair will sail Breen’s 34-footer Morning Star 5500 nautical miles with a goal of making it to Japan in 45 days.

To get there, they will sail through trade winds and potentially cyclonic conditions to the infamous calm of the doldrums on the equator.

“I’ve been working toward this for two years. It has just about been a full-time job to get ready,” Breen said.

“I bought the boat two years ago and I’ve completely rebuilt it with this race in mind. For me, the preparation

I’ve been working toward this for two years. It has just about been a full-time job

was the hard part, I’m ready to go sailing.”

Breen and Brooks will carry 400 litres of water and eat fresh food for the first few days, then it’s freeze-dried all the way to the finish.

“It’s very much campingstyle eating, and we hope to catch some water along the way,” Breen said.

Breen and Brooks did the 2016 Sydney-Hobart on local yacht Magellan, and the 2017 Melbourne-Hobart twohanded on Morning Star.

“We came sixth overall against full-handed crews, so we were happy with that,” Breen said.

The race is a staggered start, slowest to fastest, and Morning Star is the first one away.

“It’s a bit daunting to be first because the other boats will be watching our course and our tactics. It’s also an opportunity to put a few miles on the rest of the fleet before they start.”