Hiroshi Kitada – The Transat’s first Japanese competitor | News

05.02.2016

The Transat’s first Japanese competitor, Hiroshi Kitada is also the first Japanese sailor to compete in the Class40.

A trip to the start of the Route du Rhum in 2014 left Japanese businessman Hiroshi Kitada with a dream - a dream to race his Class40 solo across the Atlantic. Two year’s later Kitada has signed up as The Transat’s first Japanese competitor.

“My first impression of the Class 40 was that it is an ocean racing machine,” Kitada explained. “There are no Class40s in Japan and I could get very little information about them. It was after a group of skippers showed me around their impressive boats ahead of the Route du Rhum that I made up my mind to get my own.

“I can’t explain my motivation for The Transat,” he continued. “If there is one word to sum it up, it’s ‘longing’. I have never competed in a transatlantic race before and some may say I’m reckless, but I’m doing it for the adventure.”

As well as being The Transat’s first Japanese competitor, Kitada is the first Japanese sailor to compete in the Class40. To be able to follow his passion, Kitada commutes between his home in the north of Japan and Lorient on the French Brittany coast to be a part of the Class. “Sailing is not very popular in Japan and ocean racing is even less so,” he says. “There is no Class40 fleet in Japan. I am the first Class40 owner to display JPN on my sail. Japan is my home, but Lorient is my sailing base. I regularly commute between the two and hope to continue - as long as my wife will let me!”

Kitada began his sailing career late, aged 40. Starting out with a 35ft cruiser, he believed sailing was about “elegance, beautiful ladies and champagne,” but after his first competitive race his mindset changed. “Something inside of me just switched,” he said. “I stripped out my boat, I threw away the generator, the microwave, the air conditioner, the fridge, the fittings and the shower.

“I began competing in fully-crewed IRC classes and took part in the 2013 Transpac race. At over 2,000 miles, this is the longest distance I have ever sailed and the celebratory drink at the finish line tasted so much better than any other.”

Inspired by his offshore experience, Kitada bought a Mini 6.50 and tried his hand at solo sailing: “It was so much fun. The thing I like most about solo sailing is that everything is your own responsibility, which makes things simple because you know where the blame lies.”

The president of his own company in Japan for the past 23 years, in January 2016 Kitada retired and now focuses wholly on his sailing. His ambitions for The Transat are modest and personal, in keeping with the race’s mantra – “one man, one boat, one ocean.” He hopes to become the first Japanese sailor to make it to The Transat finish line off New York.

“Many of the skippers participating in The Transat are young, practiced and knowledgeable. I do not pretend that I can compete and I do not expect a high-ranking position. For me, this race is about the experience and the adventure. My aim is to stick with the fleet and make it the full 3,000 miles to New York,” he said.

For Kitada, the challenges aren’t just out on the water. Speaking little English and very little French, communication is difficult and he hopes his involvement in offshore sailing will break down barriers for future generations. “I hope that my participation in The Transat will inspire more young Japanese sailors to try offshore racing. I think the language issues are a big barrier not only for Japanese sailors, but many non European sailors.

For me the dream would be to one day see Japanese as the third official language of an offshore race after French and English. But for now, I’m depending on translating software for communicating with the race and my base in Lorient.”

Hiroshi Kitada is one of 12 Class 40 skippers expected on The Transat start line in Plymouth on May 2nd.