Tokyo Tech News
Tokyo Tech News
Published: November 10, 2020
Two Tokyo Tech Sailing Team members — 4th-year Mechanical Engineering student Ei Okada and 4th-year Mathematical and Computing Science student Takumi Suzuki — have qualified for the All Japan Intercollegiate Individual Sailing Championships to be held at Toyota Industries Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor in Gamagori City, Aichi Prefecture from November 27 to 29.
Skipper Okada and crew member Suzuki, who will compete in the Snipe* class of the competition, will be joined by some of the best student sailors from powerhouse universities around the country. It will undoubtedly be the toughest sailing test yet for the Tokyo Tech boatmen.
Okada and Suzuki earned their place in Japan's top student sailing race by putting in outstanding performances in the qualifying rounds, held on September 19 and 20 at Morito Coast in Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Based on total points earned, the Tokyo Tech duo and 17 other pairs were selected for the November finals. Okada and Suzuki also finished 10th out of 72 boats at the 85th All Japan Intercollegiate Sailing Championships, a team competition held from November 1 to 3.
Okada (right) and Suzuki
Ei Okada
4th year, Mechanical Engineering
Takumi Suzuki
4th year, Mathematical and Computing Science
We are truly honored to compete on the nationwide stage in the individual competition, especially because Tokyo Tech also recently qualified for the All Japan Intercollegiate Sailing Championships, a team competition. This individual contest will be our last as students, but we look forward to seeing how we can utilize what we have learned in the future.
We will be able to sail full on until late November. Staying active this long with extracurricular activities is relatively rare for fourth-year students, and we want to thank our academic supervisors for their understanding. After this last race, we can retire from the club without any regrets and direct our enthusiasm towards future research activities.
The Titech Sailing Team is a group of ocean-loving sailors who polish their seafaring skills off the Hayama coast in Kanagawa Prefecture. Members often head to the seaside on Saturday morning and only return to Tokyo on Sunday evening. The group is strongly supported by a 400-member group of alumni whose motto is "developing full-fledged sailors, full-fledged members of society."
The Snipe is a 4.72-meter sailboat designed by William F. Crosby in 1931. It was originally intended as a boat that can be rigged and launched in a short time, and has maintained its position as one of the most popular two-person racing sailboats since its creation. The Snipe gets its name from the species of long-beaked bird.
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