MILAI - FURUNO
Masa is one of those skippers with seawater running through his veins. He has been sailing for as long as he can remember: at the age of five, his parents would already take him out to sea on cruises. As a student, he sailed with the Hosei University sailing club. He then began a professional career (while racing actively in the International Moth class), before ultimately being overtaken by his true passion.
In 2018, he left everything behind to settle in Lorient and prepare for the 2019 Mini Transat, finishing with a respectable 24th place.
This only strengthened his desire to aim higher and, in 2023, he set off on the Globe 40: a double-handed, round-the-world race with stopovers, sailed in Class40. After 10 months of adventure, he and his team climbed onto the podium, despite damage that prevented the Japanese crew from taking part in the final two legs.
Naturally, the next step for Masa is the Vendée Globe. The project of this serious, methodical sailor is currently taking shape, with the potential purchase of the IMOCA previously campaigned by skipper Fives Group – Lantana Environnement. To validate his choice, Masa will line up for his first IMOCA race: the Transat Café L’OR.
| Course | Rank | Boat | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Défi Azimut-Lorient Agglomération | MILAI - FURUNO | ABANDON | |
| 2025 | Transat Café L'OR | 14th | MILAI - FURUNO | 16j 18h 41m 59s |
2023: Globe40 – 3rd
The ex-PRB, a Farr design, is continuing her lengthy career, which has involved mixed fortunes, including a violent fire that gutted her dockside in Le Havre before the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre 2019. Promised to Clément Giraud for the last Vendée Globe, his partner pulled out believing the boat to be irreparable.
Read moreAll summer long, the Azimut teams have been hard at work to do justice to this fine lineup and give this 16th edition an even stronger resonance within the IMOCA community and the Sailing Valley.
•••And that makes two! Japanese skipper Masa Suzuki is launching his Vendée Globe 2028 campaign at the helm of a 2006 daggerboard IMOCA, “Milai 22.” He will be the second Japanese sailor to take on the challenge of sailing …
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