YOKOHAMA —

Sailing around the world solo in a yacht is not just a challenge for young guys. With guts and energy, even retired people can do it. Minoru Saito, 74, is living proof. On Sunday, he left Yokohama and headed westward. His plan is to circumnavigate the globe and arrive back in Yokohama to mark the 150th anniversary of the port’s reopening by the end of May after 200 days at sea.

Saito, who is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the Oldest Person to Sail Around the World (Solo and Non-stop) – a feat he did when he was 71 – says: “I hate sports that are played in the confines of a stadium. I can be free at sea. You are no longer just a cog in the wheel unlike business people working for companies.”

Born in Tokyo’s Asakusa, Saito first started his sports career as a mountain climber when he was 13. He recalls: “Climbing gear was very expensive at that time. I had only three secondhand wool blankets I bought from the U.S. occupation army base.”

He quit climbing when he was 40. Looking at today’s climbers, Saito is disdainful. “Recently, amateurs climb mountains without serious preparation and leave garbage all over the place. These people make me upset.” 

The sea soon beckoned Saito who started yachting professionally when he was 39. Saito has so far sailed around the world solo seven times, including his record-setting eastbound voyage in 2005. In 2006, he was enshrined in the Museum of Yachting in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2007, he was awarded Blue Water Medal by The Cruising Club of America as the first Asian person. He is now more famous abroad than in Japan. 

Saito says there is a different perception of yachting in Japan and abroad. “In the West, a yachtsman is seen as a sort of hero. They sail the ocean not for money but honor or adventure. In Japan, sailing a yacht is just a hobby for the rich.” He adds that Japanese companies, unlike foreign ones, are generally reluctant to sponsor him because “they say they can’t pay millions of yen to individuals.” 

Once he is at sea, Saito says maintenance of the yacht is the most difficult thing. Asked about his upcoming voyage, he says “I’m not confident at all, but I’ll give it my best.”

One thing he doesn’t care about is criticism of his age. But he is mindful of his health; he once had a mild heart attack during a voyage. However, he says the ideal is “to die at sea, not in a hospital.”

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2 Comments

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  lipscombe at 08:20 PM JST - 28th September

  good for him, I'll cheer him on, go out with a bang old timer

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  chibaman at 09:12 PM JST - 28th September

  It's just a matter of when my tax yen goes towards the search team. My only hope is that the accompanying news coverage is short and swift, and I don't have to hear repeatedly about his self-made disaster.

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