This has the advantage of being clear.
Kojiro Shiraishi, the first Japanese sailor to complete the Vendée Globe in a legendary 9th edition, has announced that he will leave for the next edition in 2024. 16th last February, arrived 14 days after the winner Yannick Bestaven, the skipper is aiming a much better ranking, according to the objective set surprisingly by its main partner DMG MORI: “I was so happy to finish the Vendée Globe.
Now that I've done that, I think I can finally consider myself a true professional sailor, he explained at a press conference.
It is an exciting and ambitious project.
We are not aiming for the top 10 in the next race, but the top 8. This is the target suggested by Dr Mori, as it is half of the 16th place I got this time around.
It is an important and difficult goal to achieve, but it is not impossible.
The boat and I will have the task of being faster, and I will try to make the boat more comfortable in navigation.
It is important.
We are also going to improve the foils.
When I tore my mainsail and during that week fixing it, my initial goal, I thought, was to go to Australia and see.
When I spoke to Dr Mori he told me '' just try to finish '' and I got there, so now I'm looking to achieve this new goal '.
【記者 会見】
DMG MORI SAILING TEAM は 、 3/31 (水) 都 内 で 記者 会見 を 行 い ま し た 。https: //t.co/H4OZjxwZqR#dmgmorisaileam# 白石康 次郎 # VG2024
- Kojiro Shiraishi (@ kojiro_jpn11) April 1, 2021
To achieve this ambitious goal, Kojiro Shiraishi will compete in the main races of the Imoca circuit from next year on his optimized monohull.
Moreover, according to the Vendée Globe website, a project will be set up to develop the culture of sailing in Japan.
The DMG MORI Sailing Team will build a new Mini 650 prototype for the young Japanese sailor Federico Sampei, 24, who competed in the Youth America's Cup in Bermuda in 2017 in Bermuda and he will be equipped with several production Mini650s, two of which will be based in France and two in Japan responsible for training young sailors on site.
In the future, we should therefore expect to see several Japanese landing on French offshore races, including the Vendée Globe.
It remains to be seen whether the Top 8 target set for Kojiro Shiraishi is really achievable.
The races leading up to the 2024 round the world trip will shed light on his potential and that of his boat.
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