Saito tackles sail problems as he nears Tasmania
Apr 13, 2005 14: 35 EST
At the beginning of April, stormy weather and 10m high waves forced Saito to sail under his storm jib, and at times under the bare pole only. Poor weather conditions kept him from repairing the generator, and pain in his left thumb made fixing the sails even more difficult. Here’s an excerpt from Saito’s log, after calmer weather finally allowed him to make some much-needed repairs:
“Sailing with trysail and storm jib. I have repaired the upper part of the broken trysail with 10 cm and 20 cm strips of spincloth. But those parts will be broken again soon. I cannot repair the Mainsail yet.”
“I wish to go to 44S to 45S, but I cannot go south now because of the wind of ESE. I wish to pass Tasmania keeping a certain distance. I think I can repair the tabling of the Mainsail after I pass Tasmania.”
The sea will be bad
“The sea west of Tasmania is not good. It is worse when the northern wind blows. From now on the sea will be bad if I sail abeam because the wind will blow from the north. Therefore I will go by close reach (go to north) and when I reach 43S, I will go to south to pass Tasmania.”
Storms, repairs, and 177+ days at sea leave Saito reminiscing about home:
“I think the cherry blossoms must be in full bloom in Japan now. It must be very nice.”
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).
A killer typhoon stroke 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 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.
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.
Saito’s position (red) courtesy of www.010.upp.so-net.ne
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