Japanese Sailor Sets Course for Round-the-World Yacht Race

Tokyo, June 9 (Jiji Press)–Masatomo Suzuki, a 40-year-old Japanese offshore sailor, is aiming to compete in the 2028 Vendee Globe, a solo, nonstop, unassisted round-the-world yacht race. If Suzuki completes the quadrennial event, he would become the second Japanese to achieve the feat. He will take part in a solo transatlantic race in November, which will serve as a qualifier for the Vendee Globe. A native of Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, Suzuki was fascinated by yachts as a child and dreamed of sailing across the oceans. He was attracted by the idea that only a skipper and wind power were needed to move a yacht. After completing a solo transatlantic race in 2019, Suzuki took part in the Globe40 double-handed around-the-world race in 2022-23, making seven port stops. Suzuki and his partner completed the Globe40 in approximately nine and a half months, overcoming problems with their sailboat, which was damaged along the way. Participants in the Vendee Globe race set off from France and sail some 48,000 kilometers over two to three months. It is a dangerous, sometimes deadly adventure known as “the Everest of the Seas” as sailors face extreme temperature differences and rough waves. The only Japanese sailor to have completed the Vendee Globe is marine adventurer Kojiro Shiraishi. The Vendee Globe is “the ultimate journey a human being can undertake on Earth,” Suzuki said. “I want to show the next generation the excitement and joy of taking on challenges.” Suzuki purchased an 18-meter-long yacht for more than 100 million yen, with a down payment of tens of millions of yen raised by selling his house and the rest coming from more than 20 sponsors across Japan. On top of that outlay, he needs more than 70 million yen a year for his activities, such as staff labor costs, which he hopes to raise through crowdfunding. Suzuki needs to complete the solo transatlantic race in November to qualify for the Vendee Globe. “I’m convinced I can do it if I take it step by step,” he said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]