Saito hurtling towards Tasmania as friends organize a fund raiser
Mar 29, 2005 14: 26 EST
A party/fund-raiser is planned for Saito at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan on March 26, from 3 to 5 pm. As part of the event, simultaneous calls will be made with Saito-san by Iridium phone, and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston in London, reports the Saito watch website.
Saito has typically provided most of his own financial support for his voyages from his life savings after retirement. The raised money will come in handy, as Saito is sailing an old boat in need of frequent repairs. Saito is keeping up well with Hoire (yellow), pretty amazing considering his and his boat's old age, and later departure. Now headed for Tasmania, for which he has saved his potatoes!
Minoru Saito from Japan is attempting to become the oldest person at age 71 to do a solo, non-stop circumnavigation. He left Japan October 16, 2004 on his boat Shuten-dohji II (translates "Drunken child" but commonly referred to as "Shoot your dog") and is in a close race with another Japanese sailor; Kenichi Horie, who embarked 15 days prior to Saito (on a new boat).
A killer typhoon struck Japan 4 days after Saito's departure, the foul weather cost him jib damage, and his new weather fax system was busted. 3 teams were formed to supply Saito with regular weather updates in lieu of his non-operational weather fax.
Early January, Shuten-dohji II suffered two knockdowns, and the boat experiences communications glitches of both Iridium satellite phone and Fax. Minoru's foot is frostbitten, and there's a water leak in the Centerboard case.
Saito chose the name "Challenge-7" for his race for several reasons. It's the first digit of his current age, for one thing, and this voyage will become his seventh globe-circling, single-handed quest.
When he finishes Challenge-7 he will be 71 years old, which was the race number carried by Shuten-Doji II, his sailboat for all three BOC and Around Alone races in which he competed. In fact, "71" remains inscribed on the hull.
With more than 240,000 cruising and racing miles of his own, Saito is one of Japan's top yachtsmen. He completed the Around Alone (formerly the BOC Challenge) three times, the last in 1998/99 and this will be his 7th trip overall.
Saito has typically provided most of his own financial support for his voyages from his life savings after retirement. The modest sailor is not well-known in Japan, but he won special recognition as embodying "The Spirit of Around Alone" at the closing ceremony of the 6th Around Alone Race in 1999 in Charleston SC.
Position courtesy of www.010.upp.so-net.ne
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