Saito Watch

  

Minoru Saito with the TSPS burgee, a check for a donation from the TSPS, and then-Squadron Commander Hunter Brumfield, AP.

The Squadron further supplied Saito an updated medical kit with the help of TSPS Bridge officer Dr. John Marshall.

A Message to Saito-san
from Sir Robin
(in email to TSPS, 10/31/04)

Minoru is an old friend. He knows what he is doing. He is aware of the risks and hardships. He will still need luck of course, because you cannot dictate the weather conditions. However he has the guts and determination to do this and if you are in contact you might ask him why he is laying down such a challenge to younger people like me!

Robin Knox-Johnston

Photo courtesy of www.clipper-ventures.com

Sir Robin became the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world during the 1968-1969 Golden Globe Race. He was the only finisher, sailing aboard Suhaili, a 32-foot Bermudan Ketch.

For a glimpse at Sir Robin's own fascinating life and a complete list of all around-aloners, click here.

January 2007 Update:

Minoru Saito was awarded the Blue Water Medal for 2006 by The Cruising Club of America.

January 2006 Update:

Minoru Saito to be Inducted into the Single-Handed Sailor's Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.

HALL OF FAME
Ellen MacArthur, Bertie Reed, Minoru Saito and Jean-Luc van den
Heede have been inducted into the Museum of Yachting's Single-Handed Sailor's Hall of Fame. The Inductees were nominated by a panel of internationally renowned single-handed sailing experts including Bill Biewenga, Billy & Joyce Black, Jack Boye, Murray Davis, Sir Robin-Knox Johnston, Herb McCormick, JP Mouligne, Dick Newick, Goerge Pike, Michael Richey and JP Trousilek. The selection criteria included: unique contribution to single-handed sailing, extraordinary achievement, pioneering spirit, outstanding performance, advancement of the sport, overcoming a remarkable challenge and providing a source of inspiration to others. An Induction Ceremony and Celebration will be held at the Museum of Yachting in Newport, Rhode Island in July of 2006. --

www.museumofyachting.org

(Report taken from SCUTTLEBUTT 2018 - January 27, 2006 <www.sailingscuttlebutt.com>
Scuttlebutt is a digest of major yacht racing news, commentary,
opinions, features and dock talk . . . with a North American focus.)

December 2005 Update: As it turned out, Saito-san WAS voted the "Sailor of the Month" by the British sailing magazine "Seahorse" with a last minute flood of votes from you know where. (click here to see the blurb in the Scuttlebutt Europe website)

On December 6, 2005, at Restaurant Alaska on the 10th floor of the Japan Correspondents Center in Hibiya, there was a congratulatory party held for Saito-san. At the party TSPS presented him with a framed photograph of him arriving back in Japan after his circumnavigation on June 6, 100 postcards of the same photograph, a small token of our appreciation, AND honorary membership in TSPS. Click here to see photographs of the event.

The event was also publicizing the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, which will be putting in at Yokohama Bayside Marina sometime in late February, arriving from Qing Dao, China.
Saito's BACK!

On Day 233, Saito-san returned to his starting point 4 km west of Misaki Port, to a hero's welcome. Click here to join one boat that waited for his much-anticipated arrival. And click here for a story from the front page of The Japan Times by TSPS past-commander Eric Due.

We knew him "before," and now he's a true Japanese hero. Click to see photos from our June 11 annual TSPS Rendezvous in Misaki, where Saito-san was our much appreciated guest.

Click here for the complete log of Saito-san's trip!

 

Where he went

Click the chart below giving Saito-san's daily progress (and that of fellow around-aloner Kenichi Horie).

(Note: This regularly updated position link goes to the G-Products web page.)

Challenge-7 Site

Click here for a link to Saito-san's official web site created by TSPS member Jiro Fujiwara.

A Little Help from His Friends

For a photo report of TSPS members and others helping Saito prepare his boat Shuten-dohji II prior to departure, click here.

Record Watch

We discovered another "oldest solo circumnavigator" who bests Saito-san by 6 years... but NOT non-stop.

Log of TSPS activities in support of Saito san:

Tokyo Squadron donated
200,000 yen as Saito readied
for historic 7th trip

TSPS joined a small but growing list of sponsors assisting Minoru Saito's record-setting seventh single-handed voyage around the world in a sailboat.

Approval was unanimous at the September Bridge meeting to provide Saito 200,000 yen along with the Squadron's congratulations and well wishes for a safe and enjoyable voyage.

A smiling Saito received the check and the Squadron's burgee and a small US flag at Yumenoshima Marina on Oct. 2.

Saito-san receives check for 200,000 yen and TSPS
burgee from Squadron Commander Hunter Brumfield, AP.

At age 70, this will be Saito's seventh trip, including three races in the BOC and Around Alone competitions, considered to be the most rigorous individual sport of any type.

Update:
TSPS Bridge approves expansion of assistance to include the cost of a new medical kit, raising the total TSPS donation to Saito's "Challenge 7" to 237,000 yen. -- 11/18/04

Saito has typically provided most of his own financial support for his voyages from his life savings after retirement, but is happy to receive donations and corporate support. His official web page (in Japanese and English) is under development and will be accessible from the TSPS web page at an early date.

Saito at the most recent Around Alone awards ceremony
in Charleston S.C., after presenting the Shuten-dojhi II
Trophy, which he personally underwrites. The prize is
awarded to the winner in the Class 2 race category.

(Behind Saito-san is Sir Robin Knox-Johnston.)

Posted 10/04/04

Members Lend Several Hands
to 70-Year-Old Skipper's
Round-the-World Voyage

Squadron makes donation to the cruising kitty. Click here for details.

Good TSPS friend Minoru Saito, at age 71, is on his 7th single-handed circumnavigation of the world. This feat at any age is unmatched by any other Japanese cruising sailor.

His tried and trusted boat Shuten-dohji II (Drunkard's Child aka "Shoot Your Doggy") was in Yumenoshima, near Tokyo Disneyland, to be prepped for the start from Seabornia on Oct. 16.

Saturday, Oct. 2, was definitely not a day for single-handing, as Shuten-dohji II saw all running lines replaced and the forward compartment cleared and cleaned.

Throughout the day, more than 20 pairs of hands assisted, and at least 75 feet of guest dock at Yumenoshima gradually filled with the flotsam of previous round-the-world cruises. A number of TSPS members and friends were included in the work crews.

— Click here for a Yahoo slideshow of Saturday's efforts. —

Clearing the lines on Shuten-dohji II

Entering into Shuten-dohji II is a trip into history itself. In fact, scrawled over the nav station in Saito's hand, in Magic Marker English, is a declaration he wrote when rounding Cape Horn in a gale in 1991. This is 50-footer is a true blue-water cruiser with more than 200,000 nm under its keel and the stories to go with it. Yet for every piece of beat-up equipment is a nicely shining new apparatus, including a new self-steering wind vane and ultramodern communications gear, on which Saito-san will make daily updates.

Announcement of a second Shuten-dohji refit day was scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9, by Squadron Commander Hunter Brumfield, in an appeal to assist Saito after a week of rains threatened his departure schedule.

Copyright, 2004 Tokyo Sail & Power Squadron. Any information supplied on these pages is done so with no expressed or implied liability to the TSPS or USPS. Any opinions or recommendations, etc. expressed here represent the views of the writers and are not necessarily shared by others in TSPS or USPS. All rights reserved. For the Privacy Statement, click here. D-13_page