Doshisha Week

Lake Biwa, Japan, March 24, 2024. On March 23 and 24, the 40th Doshisha Week was held on Lake Biwa at Yanagisaki Yacht Harbor in Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture. Three races were held in extremely cold conditions with rain and low temperatures over the two days of the event. (Report by Shunsui Oishi, Doshisha Week Race Vice-Chairman – source: Bulkhead Magazine)

This year, we had two invited sailors: Mr. Junichiro Shiraishi and Mr. Masakazu Sasai in the Snipe class.

On the first day of the competition, northerly winds came in from the morning, and the warning signal was issued on time, but after repeated general recalls in both classes, the wind disappeared and we had to wait at sea for about an hour.

After that, one race was held in the unstable but slight wind, and after that we persisted, but eventually there was no wind and the race for the day was over.

The second day of the competition started with a long wait for wind in the morning, but after 11:00, a steady northerly breeze came in at 3 to 7 knots, and the boats were immediately launched.

However, again on this day, a general recall was repeated at the start of the race. The line formation was high from the beginning, and many boats forgot the distance from the line while fighting for position and jumped out.

Fortunately, the wind continued to stabilize and we were able to conduct two races as the time limit approached, which was a good thing.

As mentioned earlier, there were many recalled boats in most of the races throughout the competition. I think we were able to experience the difficulty of big fleet starts.

Also, on the first day, the wind dropped during the race and there were mass DNFs in both classes. I think the difference between the top fleet and the big fleet is the awareness of not stopping the boats.

The annual training session for invited competitors was also held on the evening of the first day, and it was a lively event with many competitors actively asking questions.

Next year’s Doshisha Week will also be held in March. We look forward to your participation.

The following are the results of the 40th Doshisha Week: Masaki Nishio and Akari Emi won in the Snipe class. Congratulations!

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