The 3rd All-Japan Inter-corporate Yacht Regatta sails to successful conclusion Yamaha Motor victorious as a new type of spectator-accessible urban regatta takes root

The 3rd All-Japan Inter-corporate Yacht Regatta, a sailing cruiser yacht race regatta for corporate or organization yachting clubs organized by the Japan Marine Sports Promotion Foundation (JMPF) in cooperation with the Japan Yachting Association and the All-Japan Inter-corporate Yacht Regatta Organizing Committee, was held from Nov. 1 to 3 off "Minato Mirai 21 District" in front of Rinkai Park in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Boasting an amusement park, giant shopping mall, international conference center and hotels, this area along Yokohama Harbor is a major recreation and relaxation area for the city's citizens where crowds flock on holidays and weekends to enjoy shopping and various forms of amusement. What's more, since this yacht race was organized in conjunction with the "Yokohama Boat Tengoku (Yokohama Harbor Boat Heaven)" event, an especially large number of boat lovers were on hand to watch the races, helping to establish this regatta as a new kind of "metropolitan type yacht race event."

Another thing that made this race unique was the fact that the organizers made available a fleet of 24-ft race boats. This allowed 32 teams of 5 to 8 sailors each to gather from around Japan and enjoy racing competition while bringing nothing more than their own team sailing wear.
Of the 32 participating teams, 16 were qualified as seeded teams by finishing in the top places in last year's regatta. The other 16 teams were the ones who passed a qualifying competition held earlier this year from May 31 to June 1 at Lake Hamana-ko (29 participating teams). Furthermore, at the strong request of a number of the teams anxious to polish their sailing skills in preparation for this competition, a special Winter Camp training retreat was held at Lake Hamana-ko in February.

Over the first two days of the competition, the teams were divided into groups of eight to compete in the preliminary rounds under clear skies. From these preliminaries the top 16 teams moved on to the semifinal rounds on day three.
At least one big upset marked the early rounds, as last year's champion team, Toa Corporation (Tokyo), failed to make the semifinalist cut off by just one point. Now in its third year, the heightened level of the regatta's competition was clearly evident, as even the previous champions were no longer assured clear sailing to the finals.
In the semifinals the 16 teams were divided into two groups of eight to compete in fleet races. The four teams that emerged from this round to compete in the finals were Marutama Unso (Aichi Pref.), Fujita Corp. (Tokyo), YamahaMotor (Shizuoka Pref.) and Hitachi, Ltd. (Tokyo).

The finals were conducted in a one-on-one match race format in which the first qualifier, Marutama Unso, went against 2nd place Fujita and Yamaha Motor faced off against Hitachi. When this round was over Marutama and Yamaha emerged as winners and advanced to the final round.

By this point the competition out on the water had captured the attention of many visitors who had come anticipating nothing more than a stroll in the park. One Yokohama housewife among the spectators commented: "You could see the action and there was a commentary being broadcast, so I was able to experience the atmosphere of yacht racing. Watching the race I began to get an appreciation for the power of the (invisible) wind driving the yachts." In thisway, people who would ordinarily have no contact with the world of yachting were able to enjoy the competition.

The final was also run in a match race format with the first team to win two
races to be declared champions. The two finalist teams were very closely matched, with the Yamaha team led by members with experience on Japan's America's Cup team and a Yamaha yacht designer, while the Marutama team included brothers with intercollegiate racing experience presently training to make the Japanese Olympic sailing team.

In the first race, Yamaha took advantage of a poor start by Marutama to take an early lead and hold it to the finish. In the second race as well, Yamaha gained a position of advantage at the start and successfully held off the Marutama challenge to win two straight and claim the title of champions of the 3rd All-Japan Inter-corporate Yacht Regatta. With very little difference in boat speed and crew work between the two teams, Yamaha was able to successfully maintain its lead advantage gained at the start each time. (See attache page for result details)

It should also be noted that the first round of the preliminary competition this year was dedicated to the late professional racer Makoto Namba, who had served as advisor to this regatta since its first holding.

Marine sports are a varied field of recreational sports where men, women and children of all ages can participate in accordance with their own physical capabilities. Marine sports are viewed today as having excellent potential for providing youth and children with healthful and enriching educational experiences. The JMPF was founded with approval of the Ministry of Education in July, 1992, for the purpose of promoting the effective development of these kinds of marine sports and encouraging their establishment as a form of life time recreation for the populace.

Final Results