Most readers who've been paying attention these last few years, will remember the name Minoru Saito. Saito san became the oldest person to singlehand around alone in his epic Non-Race, not against Horie san of Mermaid fame.
The Cruising Club of America saw fit to award him their prestigious Blue Water Medal this week. Previous recipients have included Eric Hiscock and Sir Francis Chichester. This is no light-weight award.
Congratulations Saito san, and our hats off to the CCA for recognising him.
Read on for the full press release.


Minoru Saito, an admired Japanese solo sailor, who at the age of 71 completed his seventh single-handed circumnavigation of the world, was selected by the Cruising Club of America (CCA) to receive the prestigious Blue Water Medal for 2006. The medal was presented at the club's annual Awards Dinner in New York on January 16, 2007 by CCA Commodore Edward S. Rowland of Hamilton, Mass.

The Blue Water Medal was inaugurated by the Cruising Club of America in 1923 to "reward meritorious seamanship and adventure upon the sea displayed by amateur sailors of all nationalities that might otherwise go unrecognized". Previous Blue Water Medalists have included such luminaries of the world of ocean voyaging in small vessels as Alain Gerbault, H.W. Tilman, Carlton Mitchell, Eric Hiscock, Sir Francis Chichester and Bernard Moitessier.

Saito, sailing his 50 foot sloop, Shutendohji II, first raced around the globe in the 1990-1991 BOC Challenge and has been sailing almost continuously in solo world-circling races and voyages ever since. His latest voyage which ended in June, 2005, in Japan, completed 240,000 miles at sea.

Minoru Saito began serious sailing 1973 at the age of 39 by participating in races in Japan. Thirteen years later he purchased a 43-foot sailboat in Australia and entered several grueling races between Australia, New Zealand and Japan, including the Melbourne to Osaka Race, Around Australia Single-handed Race (where he suffered a heart attack, forcing him to retire from the race) and the Auckland-Fukuoka Race. Between races, while sailing from Japan to Sydney, he survived a typhoon, two cyclones and several knock-downs from gale force winds.

In 1991 he acquired Shutendohji II, a solidly-built 50-foot blue water cruiser built in Australia which was modified for long-distance solo ocean racing. To qualify and participate in the third BOC round-the-world race, he sailed from Sydney, Australia to Newport, R.I., then in the race itself. In 1994 he sailed from Japan to Charleston, S.C. to participate in the fourth BOC Challenge then back to Japan, via the Red Sea, thus completing two circumnavigations in one continuous trip. In 1997 he sailed from Japan to England via Australia then the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in the Single-handed Trans-Atlantic race between Falmouth, England and Charleston, and then participated in the fifth BOC Challenge, renamed the "Around Alone." On returning to Japan, via Cape Town and Tasmania, Australia, he had completed his sixth circumnavigation.


Photo: Saito at his induction into Single-handed Sailing Hall of Fame, Yachting Museum, Newport, R.I., July, 2006.
(Photo courtesy of www.saito8.com)


His latest voyage, dubbed "Challenge-7," began in Tokyo in October, 2004 taking the form of an informal contest between him and Japanese single-hander Kenichi Horie. Saito completed the route without stopping 7 1/2 months later on June 6, 2005, a few days ahead of Horie to notch up his seventh circumnavigation.

Minoru Saito has always sailed without sponsorship with a sparsely funded budget and with a long-running heart ailment. While seldom among the winners and sailing an ageing boat, his dogged persistence, cheerful attitude and indomitable spirit have been recognized and praised in yachting circles all over the world.

About the Cruising Club of America
The Cruising Club of America is dedicated to offshore cruising, voyaging and the "adventurous use of the sea" through efforts to improve seamanship, the design of seaworthy yachts, safe yachting procedures and environmental awareness. Now in its 84th year, the club has 10 stations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Bermuda, with approximately 1200 members who are qualified by their experience in offshore passage making. In even-numbered years, the CCA organizes the Newport to Bermuda Race in conjunction with the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. It also sponsors several Safety at Sea seminars and hosts a series of "Suddenly Alone" seminars for the cruising couple.

For more information on the CCA, go to http://www.cruisingclub.org.