Saito's successful ocean encounter
May 11, 2005 17: 26 EST
Yesterday, we learned that Fedor and Fontes had to abort their mid-sea rendezvous. Last month, Saito had better luck when he made brief visual contact with his friend Jeremy Firth, off the coast of Tasmania (the picture is from that meeting). Of course, Jeremy was sailing out from the dock in Tasmania to meet Saito as he passed; while Fedor and Fontes were attempting to cross paths in the middle of the Atlantic.
Toasted our success with a beer
After the rendezvous with Jeremy, Saito-san finally got a chance to hoist his mainsail: “I was able to repair the mainsail, since the wind was weak and the waves only 1 m high. I climbed on the boom and made the repairs sitting on the boom and the mainsail. Then I hoisted the Main and toasted our success with a beer.”
Wind doesn’t cooperate with newly fixed sail
Ironically, once the mainsail was repaired, the wind died down, and so did Saito’s speed: “The wind is weak and the waves are mild. The weather would be ideal for powering with the engine these days, but I must sail on, come what may. But "SHUTEN-DOJI II" is doing its best to climb northward under sail alone.”
Minoru Saito from Japan is attempting to become the oldest person at age 71 to do a solo, non-stop circumnavigation without stops. 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).
With more than 240,000 cruising and racing miles of his own, Saito is one of Japanese 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.
Image of Saito’s boat during rendezvous off Storm Bay, Tasmania courtesy of Jeremy Firth and www.tspsjapan.org.
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| Fedor - less than a week to go! Jun 3, 2005 | | Saito San - closing in on home and record! Jun 2, 2005 | | Atlantic Four: And they are off! Jun 1, 2005 | | Ollie - is anybody out there? May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | And they are off! May 27, 2005 | | Ellen gives transatlantic record a second battle May 27, 2005 | | Vagabond update - Polar bears, 200 candles and ice melting in Inglefieldbukta May 26, 2005 | | ExWeb interview - Atlantic Four: "It was all about persuading our wives" May 25, 2005 | | Iridium: "Invalid battery - matches found, 0" May 24, 2005 |
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