Little Fanfare, Huge Accomplishments

While most of the sailing media’s recent North Pacific coverage has been focused on Transpac victories and Lending Club 2‘s astonishing L.A.-to-Honolulu speed run, the impressive accomplishments of two middle-aged Japanese sailors went largely unnoticed. Michiaki Koga, 64, and Yasuo Abe, 63, both recently arrived in San Francisco Bay from Japan, having sailed roughly parallel nonstop voyages of 54 and 49 days, respectively.

We were tipped off about their arrival by the enthusiastic team at Scanmar International, as both men utilized Bay Area-built Monitor windvanes on their 5,000-mile crossings. 

As we learned during our interviews at Alameda’s Grand Marina, despite enduring several gales along the way — four in Mr. Koga’s case — the two sailors’ boats appeared to be in excellent condition, requiring only minor sail repairs and routine maintenance once in Alameda. Koga’s boat Tsuyotaka is an Esprit du Vent 30, designed by famed French naval architecture firm Groupe Finot, yet built and launched in Japan in 1998. Abe’s Yukikaze II is a more classic-styled Trekker 34, also built in Japan.

From what we could tell, both of these small boats were immaculately prepared, reflecting the experience, professionalism and seamanship of their owners. Koga, for example, is a retired shipwright who spent more than three decades building steel ships after discovering sailing during his university years in Yokohama. While sailing and working in the marine industry were part of his life, crossing the Pacific had been his dream.

Both Koga and Abe were inspired years ago by reading the book Alone on the Pacific, written by a young Japanese singlehander named Kenichi Horie. In 1962 he made the Japan-to-San Francisco voyage in a 19-foot boat, a feat that earned him distinction as the first person ever to sail solo across the Pacific. For Koga and Abe, the dream of following in Horie’s wake is now a reality.

When we spoke to Abe last week, he was preparing his Yukikaze II to sail back to Japan, solo and nonstop, with a short turn-around time, while Koga will leave for Hawaii in mid-August, then complete the passage back to Japan next spring. Look for more on these impressive sailors in the September issue of Latitude 38. We wish them fair winds and following seas.