Last month the World Cup Series Japan was concluded. There were days when the winds were not high enough for sailing to be done at a competitive scale. There were eight Olympic events that were held at Gamagori this year, which helped international sailors to test their skills and compete against each other, many of whom would be coming down to take part in similar waters when they participate in the 2020 Olympic to be held at Tokyo.
For the Japanese sailors, it was definitely an opportunity to start their preparations and develop their skills. Though the wind remained fickle in many parts of the competition, the Japanese sailors were grateful for the opportunity to race, many of whom were native to the region. Gamagori is a coastal city which has about 80,000 local inhabitants. Many of the participants such as Hiroka Itakura, a local sailor of the 49erFX series, stated that he found that the opportunity was great though the waters were not at optimal conditions for racing at the time when the competition was held. His partner Chika Hatae also stated that it was indeed a pleasure that the competition was being held in their native country. There had also been a new construction done for the competition, the Tasar World Championships, which was held from 30th July to 6th August 2017. This new sailing facility will also help add to the legacy of sailing races in this region, though the Olympic venue for 2020 has been decided to be Enoshima in Japan.
However, thereis the Asian Games coming up in 2026 which will also a reason that Gamagori is being straddled with adequate infrastructure to host and sustain an international sailing community over time. Japanese sailors can look forward to having more facilities to use for their practice sessions ahead of the Olympic series.