Kojiro Shiraishi: The main goal is to test the boat in all kinds of weather conditions

The veteran Japanese single-hander Kojiro Shiraishi says the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne race will be an opportunity for him to try to push his VPLP-designed flying machine towards its optimal performance. But only when he feels it is safe to do so.
The 53-year-old who hails from Kamakura, a coastal town south of Tokyo, knows that he needs the time on the water in DMG MORIthat this new race will offer him, as he continues his build-up to his second appearance in the Vendée Globe.
“It is the last race before the Vendée Globe and it will be the first race for me on this boat and I am excited to be part of it,” he told the IMOCA website.
“But I will not go and push hard for the sake of it. The key thing for me at the moment is to know not only the boat’s limit but also my body’s limit. I’m not young anymore and I need to be conscious of my body.”
The course, which will take the fleet to a waypoint south of Iceland, is sure to be challenging and Shiraishi is not the only IMOCA skipper expecting it to be cold.
“No IMOCA has been this far north in a race,” he said. “I just want to go and experience these conditions and come back to nice warm weather in France.” He added that the main goal is to test the boat in all conditions and finishing will be what he called “a great feat” Shiraishi says he will not be worrying about his ranking position.
The Japanese sailor fulfilled a life-long dream when taking the start of the last Vendée Globe in 2016 in Spirit of Yukoh,but his race came to a premature end when his boat dismasted in the Southern Ocean and he had to divert to South Africa.
Now he is determined to finish the race and to become the first Japanese sailor to do so in his brand new IMOCA which is a sistership of Jérémie Beyou’s Charal, though it is fitted with Mark I foils.
“The start line is really magical with all the supporters around you and cheering for you,” he said. “It is my wish to cross the finishing line and be cheered again by all these people. I also want to popularise offshore sailing in Asia and Japan. I want to show the world how wonderful these IMOCA races are!”
Like everyone else in the class, the period of confinement has interrupted his plans and affected the amount of time he has been able to go sailing. But the three-time solo circumnavigator is confident that he has had enough time on the water to tackle the Arctic race.
“The boat is coming along very well,” he said. “I haven’t sailed as much as I wanted, because we were not ready and couldn’t sail during the lockdown period. But I have done quite a bit of solo training. I just came back from a 2,000-mile solo voyage last week and learned quite a bit during the week-long training."
“The team is working hard to make the boat ready and pushing me to do my best for the upcoming races,” he added. “I am learning constantly on this boat and I am sure I will be ready to race.”
The Japanese team, which is sponsored by DMG MORI, a global leader in machine tools and their applications, adhered to strict protocols during the lockdown and Shiraishi is continuing to take the Covid-19 pandemic extremely seriously.
“We worked with strict rules – wearing masks, using hand sanitizers and always working far from each other,” Shiraishi explained. “During the lockdown, we rotated crew so they didn’t work too close to each other and we held online meetings every week to ensure everything was on track."
“We did not have any infections within the team and we hope it will never happen,” he added. “We are constantly aware of the risk and taking every measure to keep things safe for everyone. As for myself, I try to stay far from crowded places and I am taking all security measures necessary to be healthy.”
We wish Kojiro all the very best in the Vendée-Arctique-Les Sables d’Olonne Race and the Vendée Globe afterwards.
Ed Gorman
Teams infos
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•••2021 Two-Boat Racing Schedule Unveiled by 11th Hour Racing Team
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•••Championship ranking
01 | ![]() | Boris HERRMANN
SEAEXPLORER - YACHT CLUB DE MONACO | 236 pts | |
02 | ![]() | Fabrice AMEDEO
NEWREST - ART & FENÊTRES | 217 pts | |
03 | ![]() | Jérémie BEYOU
CHARAL | 212 pts | |
04 | ![]() | Samantha DAVIES
INITIATIVES-CŒUR | 208 pts | |
05 | ![]() | Paul MEILHAT | 206 pts | |
06 | ![]() | Kevin ESCOFFIER
PRB | 195 pts | |
07 | ![]() | Yann ELIES | 192 pts | |
07 | ![]() | Charlie DALIN
APIVIA | 192 pts | |
09 | ![]() | Yannick BESTAVEN
MAITRE COQ IV | 187 pts | |
10 | ![]() | Thomas RUYANT
LINKEDOUT | 180 pts | |
11 | ![]() | Vincent RIOU | 157 pts | |
12 | ![]() | Clarisse CRÉMER
BANQUE POPULAIRE X | 150 pts | |
13 | ![]() | Arnaud BOISSIÈRES
LA MIE CÂLINE - ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE | 149 pts | |
14 | ![]() | Damien SEGUIN
GROUPE APICIL | 147 pts | |
15 | ![]() | Giancarlo PEDOTE
PRYSMIAN GROUP | 144 pts | |
16 | ![]() | Nicolas LUNVEN | 131 pts | |
17 | ![]() | Christopher PRATT | 128 pts | |
18 | ![]() | Stéphane LE DIRAISON
TIME FOR OCEANS | 127 pts | |
18 | ![]() | Sébastien SIMON
ARKÉA PAPREC | 127 pts | |
20 | ![]() | Maxime SOREL
V AND B - MAYENNE | 123 pts | |
21 | ![]() | Armel LE CLEAC'H | 114 pts | |
21 | ![]() | Manuel COUSIN
GROUPE SÉTIN | 114 pts | |
23 | ![]() | Alan ROURA
LA FABRIQUE | 111 pts | |
23 | ![]() | Eric PERON | 111 pts | |
25 | ![]() | Louis BURTON
BUREAU VALLÉE 2 | 105 pts | |
26 | ![]() | Pascal BIDEGORRY | 100 pts | |
26 | ![]() | Charlie ENRIGHT
11TH HOUR RACING | 100 pts | |
28 | ![]() | Davy BEAUDART | 97 pts | |
29 | ![]() | Antoine KOCH | 96 pts | |
30 | ![]() | Romain ATTANASIO
PURE - BEST WESTERN® | 92 pts | |
31 | ![]() | Roland JOURDAIN | 91 pts | |
32 | ![]() | Will HARRIS | 86 pts | |
33 | ![]() | Alex THOMSON
HUGO BOSS | 80 pts | |
34 | ![]() | Jean LE CAM
YES WE CAM ! | 68 pts | |
34 | ![]() | Nicolas TROUSSEL
CORUM L'EPARGNE | 68 pts | |
36 | ![]() | Yoann RICHOMME | 65 pts | |
37 | ![]() | Anthony MARCHAND | 64 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Ari HUUSELA
STARK | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Isabelle JOSCHKE
MACSF | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Miranda MERRON
CAMPAGNE DE FRANCE | 60 pts | |
38 | ![]() | Sébastien MARSSET | 60 pts | |
42 | ![]() | Guillaume LE BREC | 56 pts | |
42 | ![]() | Erik NIGON
COMPAGNIE DU LIT / JILITI | 56 pts | |
44 | ![]() | Alexia BARRIER
TSE - 4MYPLANET | 54 pts | |
45 | ![]() | François GUIFFANT | 49 pts | |
46 | ![]() | Xavier MACAIRE | 48 pts | |
47 | ![]() | Sébastien AUDIGANE | 47 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Benjamin DUTREUX
OMIA - WATER FAMILY | 44 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Thomas CARDRIN | 44 pts | |
48 | ![]() | Kojiro SHIRAISHI
DMG MORI GLOBAL ONE | 44 pts | |
51 | ![]() | Gildas MORVAN | 42 pts | |
52 | ![]() | Clément GIRAUD
L'ENVOL | 40 pts | |
53 | ![]() | Pip HARE
MEDALLIA | 38 pts | |
54 | ![]() | Halvard MABIRE | 34 pts | |
55 | ![]() | Joan MULLOY | 32 pts | |
56 | ![]() | Endt YSBRAND | 24 pts | |
57 | ![]() | Gwénolé GAHINET | 18 pts | |
58 | ![]() | Michael FERGUSON | 16 pts | |
58 | ![]() | Alain GAUTIER | 16 pts | |
60 | ![]() | Tolga Ekrem PAMIR | 12 pts | |
61 | ![]() | Stan MASLARD | 10 pts | |
62 | ![]() | Paul LARSEN | 8 pts | |
63 | ![]() | Hiroshi KITADA | 7 pts | |
64 | ![]() | Pierre CASIRAGHI | 6 pts | |
65 | ![]() |
Denis VAN WEYNBERGH
EYESEA.BE | 5 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Armel TRIPON | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Arthur HUBERT | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Richard TOLKIEN | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Rune AASBERG | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Morgan LAGRAVIERE | 4 pts | |
66 | ![]() | Neal MCDONALD | 4 pts | |
72 | ![]() | Lionel REGNIER | 3 pts | |
73 | ![]() | Pierre QUIROGA | 2 pts | |
... |