Japan plans to tap high-wealth tourists with bid to attract luxury superyachts from abroad
The transport ministry is boosting efforts to attract superyachts, owned by wealthy foreign individuals, to Japan in the hope that their port calls bring a major boost to the country's economy. The ministry hopes that visits by superyachts, or large cruisers with a length of ...
'I'm the happiest person on earth': Blind Japanese sailor completes nonstop Pacific crossing
A blind Japanese sailor on Saturday successfully completed a near two-month, nonstop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima Prefecture, making him the first person to make a blind sailing across the Pacific Ocean. Joined by a sighted navigator, it was 52-year-old Mitsuhiro Iwamoto's second two-person ...
Japan SailGP team joins new global circuit
"This is like Formula One on water." That's how Sir Russell Coutts, who won a gold medal for New Zealand in sailing at the 1984 Olympics and won the America's Cup five times, describes SailGP, the nation vs. nation sailing circuit set to launch early ...
Kanagawa natives set out to master new yachting class
The wind was more like a zephyr, so the yacht was not running as swift as it could have. Still, it was comfortably plowing on the bay of Sagami. "It was maybe about 30 kph," Wakako Kajimoto said after the boat returned from practice to Enoshima ...
A 10-gold bonanza across five sports on Friday took Japan's tally to 69 gold medals, more than at any Asian Games since the last time it topped the medal table in Bangkok in 1978. Japan's sailors provided four gold and its judoka three, while the ...
Traditional Hawaiian canoe returns after epic round-the-world voyage
No modern navigation instrumentation guided a Polynesian voyaging canoe as it followed the horizon during a three-year journey around the globe. About a dozen crew members for each leg of the voyage relied only on their understanding of nature's cues — ocean swells, stars, wind, ...
Japan ghosts ahead of France in almost no-wind America's Cup conditions
SoftBank Team Japan outclassed Groupama Team France in their Louis Vuitton America's Cup qualifying race on Thursday, with the Japanese catamaran coping better with a very light breeze in Bermuda's Great Sound. SoftBank Team Japan, skippered by former Emirates Team New Zealand sailor Dean Barker, ...
Russian yacht and crew detained by North Korea arrives in Vladivostok
A Russian yacht detained and then released by North Korean authorities has arrived in the Russian Far Eastern port city of Vladivostok, the nation's Interfax news agency reported Monday. "The yacht has arrived and all members of the crew are fine," Interfax quoted a local ...
Twice rescued, U.S. novelist still bent on circumnavigation, this time aboard Nevermore
A novelist who was twice rescued from storm-battered sailboats hopes his next adventure lacks in such drama. South Carolina author Michael Hurley plans to sail around the world after using the experience of scuttling his sailboat on a failed trans-Atlantic crossing for his new book, ...
Sailor Shiraishi prepares for prestigious global odyssey
Sailor Kojiro Shiraishi is in high spirits as he is set to realize his 30-year dream. Shiraishi will compete in the Vendée Globe, the around-the-world solo yacht race, in November. The 48-year-old will be the first Asian to participate in the once-every-four-years most famous sailing ...
IOC agrees to carry out virus tests on Rio's Olympic water venues
The International Olympic Committee said Sunday it will begin testing for disease causing viruses in the sewage-polluted waters where athletes will compete in next year's Rio de Janeiro Games. Before, the IOC and local Olympic organizers in Rio said they would only test for bacteria ...
A former America's Cup sailor is suing two-time defending champion Oracle Team USA for $400,000 for failing to fire or suspend a crewmate during the biggest cheating scandal in regatta history. Matthew Mitchell, who lives in Auckland, sued Oracle Team USA in federal court in ...
