(Okinawa, Japan)- J/24 sailing in Okinawa, Japan? You bet! Adam Johnston, skipper, and Shingo Kazuko, participated in the 39th annual Race to Zamami Island in Okinawa's Kerama Islands. It is a truly spectacular part of the worlds, especially in the western Pacific. The name of their boat is SCARLETTE, a 1985 Nissan-built J/24 (the red boat at the start above). Here is their story as told by Adam:
“Two J-24s competed in one of the longest running yacht races in Japan on July 2 as 40 different types of boats raced from the Okinawan “mainland” to a locale in the Kerama Islands chain; specifically Zamami Island.
Hensa
(Okinawan for Eagle), a 1986 Nissan-built J/24, with it’s crew of four
finished the overall race in eighth place and Scarlette, with a crew of
two, finished the overall race in twenty-third.The “Race to Zamami” is one of Japan’s longest running yacht races. The competition, according to the “Zamami Times,” draws competitors from around Japan as they race in three different classes with handicaps from Okinawa Island to Zamami Island.
Teams usually take three to six hours to sail the 28nm route (approximately 50km or 31 statute miles) that winds through the Kerama Islands. Hensa, captained by Takumi Hanashiro, with crew Takahiro Higa, Chris Matsuda, Kaiki Yamashiro, finished the race in 4 hours, 32 minutes and 6 seconds. While Scarlette, captained by Adam Johnston with Shingo Kazuko as crew, clocked a finish time of 4 hours, 55 minutes and 23 seconds. Next year will mark the 40th annual event, it will more than likely be scheduled in early July 2017.”