On November 12th and 13th, under clear blue skies, the 2022 RS Japan Open was held with its headquarters at Hayama New Port and its branch in Morito, with 37 boats entered.
Hayama Sailing Club (HSC) participated with 17 RSaero boats, 2 RS200., 1 RSQuba, 1 RSZest, 3 RSFeva, and 4 RSTera boats.
People of all ages, from 10 years old to people in their 60s, enjoyed the two-day race.
The children, who have been sailing for between one and four years, have been improving rapidly with each weekend practice.
The adults range from those who started sailing while they were students to those who started at HSC school!
Both privately owned yacht owners and those chartering yachts put in a lot of effort in their pre-event practice!
We even had participants come all the way from Fukuoka!
The RS500 pair is expected to win! They're wearing matching white rushes.
Children, please check the rigging carefully.
Once the yachts were ready, we headed to Hayama New Port to take part in the opening ceremony.
Everyone at the Shimizu Port Yacht Association. You always get along so well!
This time, there were participants from Kyushu, Miyagi, and Shizuoka, and I realized that the RS class is gradually expanding.
On the first day, there was a northeasterly wind of 3 to 5 meters, and all boat types started at the same time.
Due to the increase in the number of RSaero boats, the results were divided between RSaero and other boats.
Nakamizo of RSaero7 took first place in the first race, while the RS500 pair of Washiyama and Tsunoda were consistent in taking first place in the second and third races.
Also, Yoshioka, who participated from Kyushu, showed a speed that made it hard to believe it was his first time riding the RS aero5.
In the second race, Onodera from RSaero7 Miyagi Prefecture finished in first place!
Among all the spectators, the biggest interest was shown by Kamo on the RS700, who took the lead in the first race. They commented that it looked cool and they wanted to ride it.
The wind weakened considerably in the third race, causing many runners to DNF.
By the time everyone landed, the sunset was beautiful.
In the evening, we had our first reception in a while!
Although it was a short time, it was an important opportunity to interact.
On the second day, Sunday, a cold front was forecast to pass through, and some boats chose not to participate.
Leaving aside the veterans, I was unsure whether I should stop the lightweight children and those with little racing experience from going out in the strong winds, or whether I should give them advice and help, but since the wind conditions were fairly stable, I let them go out in the boat at their own discretion.
In the fourth race, with a southwesterly wind of 8m+, the RS500 pair of Washiyama and Tsunoda, who had been holding on to first place, sank in the gennaker. Nakamizo in the RSaero7 used his experience to show a stable run on the uphill leg over choppy waters.
The RSFeva pair of Abiko and Yamada had a shaky start, but they did their best to follow Nakamizo's course and consider the same course.
As the number of boats sunk increased, the race ended after only the fourth race.
At the closing ceremony, a beautiful fanfare from Nakamizo's trumpet rang out each time the winners of each class were announced, making for a harmonious closing ceremony.
The RS aero division triumphed over two days, overcoming winds ranging from light to strong, with the winner being RSaero7's Nakamizo, who appeared on stage playing the trumpet as the winner.
The winners of all boat types except RSaero were the pair of Yasuhiko and Yamada from RSFeva. They are third-year junior high school students! Congratulations!
We took a commemorative photo with the Gill flag, which was our sponsor!
Thank you very much to everyone at the RS Class Association who took the time to prepare and run the event over a long period of time despite their busy schedules.
For more details about the race, please visit the Japan RS Association website.
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