The TSPS Bridge has announced the cruising schedule for 2022 here: https://tspsjapandev.wpengine.com/our-events/boating-events/

If you are interested in joining any of these cruises, please contact our Cruising Coordinator for further information.

Due to the continued Coronavirus pandemic, the Change of Watch this year was held last night, March 9th, via Zoom. In total, 24 TSPS members attended.

Following the outgoing Bridge officers reports and a brief question time, Commander Rick Pawell relieved the outgoing Bridge of their duties.

Secretary Timothy Langley cast a unanimous ballot for the following 2022 Bridge positions:

2022 Bridge Officers

• COMMANDER – David Edwards

• EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND EVENT COORDINATOR – Svetlana Ilyushechkina

• SECRETARY – Timothy Langley

• EDUCATION OFFICER – Claude Strobbe

• ASSISTANT EDUCATION OFFICER – Jeff Canaday

• ADMIN OFFICER – David Lechevalier

• TREASURER – Bill Van Alstine

The vote was cast with no other nominations and was unanimously passed with a “Yea” from the TSPS members present, in addition to the 26 “Yea” votes and 2 “Nay” votes received by email (50 total “Yea” votes and 2 “Nay” votes).

Rick Pawell invited the newly elected officers to take the Oath of Office which duly followed, then turned over the meeting to the New Commander David Edwards.

Following a virtual “Toast to the New Bridge” the Change of Watch closed at 20.00 hours.

2022 Members-at-Large

• MEMBERSHIP – Will Wade

• WEBSITE & IT – Rob Stein

• CRUISING COORDINATOR – Vlad Legeza

Click here to see the 2022 Bridge officers

Richard (“Dick”) W. Schultz, an active member of TSPS for many years and former TSPS Commander, sadly passed away on Friday, October 22 following a fall near his home. He was 71 years old. His wake and funeral were held at the Machiya Funeral Hall in Arakawa-ku on October 27-28 and were well-attended by family and friends alike.

Dick was a lifelong lover of all types of boating, and he was a skilled small boat sail racer who won many trophies in the U.S. By the age of 15, Dick had even taught himself how to use a sextant. One of his favorite ways of showing visitors the beauty of Tokyo was by boat on the old canals that run through the center of the city, especially during cherry blossom season. He also enjoyed participating in powerboating events on lakes near the Tokyo area, and even was known to try wakeboarding! One of Dick’s last boating trips was to Lake Biwa with his friends.

Dick will be sorely missed by all of his friends at TSPS, and he will be forever in our hearts. Rest in peace.

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Change of Watch this year was held last night, March 17th, via Zoom. In total, 33 TSPS members attended.

Following the outgoing Bridge officers reports and a brief question time, Commander David Edwards relieved the outgoing Bridge of their duties.

Secretary David Sutton-Kirkby cast a unanimous ballot for the following 2021 Bridge positions:

2021 Bridge Officers

• COMMANDER – Rick Pawell

• EXECUTIVE OFFICER – Stephan Riediger

• SECRETARY – Timothy Langley

• EDUCATION OFFICER – Jeff Canaday

• ADMIN OFFICER – Claude Strobbe

• TREASURER – Bill Van Alstine

The vote was cast with no other nominations and was unanimously passed with a “Yea” from the TSPS members present, in addition to the 17 “Yea” votes received by email (50 total “Yea” votes).

Chris Pitts invited the newly elected officers to take the Oath of Office which duly followed, then turned over the meeting to the New Commander Rick Pawell.

Following a virtual “Toast to the New Bridge” the Change of Watch closed at 20.00 hours.

2021 Members-at-Large

• MEMBERSHIP – John Marshall

• CRUISING & WEBSITE – David Edwards

• PUBLIC AFFAIRS – Jiro Fujiwara

• SOCIAL EVENTS – David Sutton-Kirkby

The closing 2020 TSPS Cruise took place on the week-end of Nov. 7-8 to Hota. Four TSPS boats took part: Adzenjili II, Taihei, Anais and Distant Dreamer. Fourteen members were aboard for the ride. The weather began with low wind but once past the two small islands at the entrance to Tokyo Bay, the wind kicked in at 20-24 knots SW and 1.5 meter waves. All boats made it safely to Hota. In Hota we enjoyed its well-known Banya restaurant and bath, as well as conviviality on board the boats. The following day was beautiful with fair winds and calm seas as the fleet returned to Yokohama and Tokyo.

Hopefully, 2021 will be a better year for cruises, as 2020 was all about the COVID and we had to cut down on these events. As it was, we did get in two cruises for the year. Hope to see more 2020 TSPS members aboard next year!

The rain stopped and the weather cleared in time for the first class of TSPS’s second Sailing 102 course of 2020 with instructor Rick Pawell on the Yamaha 30S sailboats from Hayama Marina on Sunday October 18. After having completed Sailing 101, students Bernard Languillier, Peter Knight, Timothy Langley, Svetlana Ilyushechkina and Alex Khadanovich will be practicing using the spinnaker, sailing wing and wing, tacking, gybing, anchoring and lots of docking and undocking. This will be the last sailing class this year, but we hope to get started with new classes in 2021. Hope to see more members out there next year!

(Photos courtesy of Alex)

One year has passed since I announced my Pacific Solo dream.

Here I am, now living part-time on SV Wahine a Gibsea 402, at Yumenoshima Marina in Tokyo which I bought (I prefer the term “became guardian of”) – from TSPS member Marcus von Engel. As you no doubt know, Yumenoshima is an island made out of garbage and literally means “Island of Dreams”.  

My learning curve has been steep, and changes dramatic.  I would not be here if it was not for the Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron, as I had given up on my dream of owning a boat and sailing an ocean after my wife and I moved to Japan 22 years ago.  Although I had inquired over the years, and sailed lasers at Yamanakako every summer, the thought of getting a boat license and a boat just seemed too expensive and with my limited Japanese impossible

Discovering TSPS along with some JP boatowners with whom I crewed for a year, changed all that.

So the last year has brought along of changes.  Including changes in my professional life.  We found a successor to run HOPE Internatonal Development Agency Japan. I remain Asia Director but in a volunteer capacity.

I started an Ethics, Sustainablity and Social Legacy consultancy in January, which immediately stalled with Corona and potential clients saying not until 2021.  So the silver lining . . . SV Wahine and I have been able to spend quality time together and to focus on the Pacific Solo YouTube Channel.

I have finished Season 1 which featured my first few months and experiences with Wahine and with crew including Claude and Rick of TSPS. Season 2 will follow the story of ongoing challenges to get the boat read for the eventual crossing in 2022.  One of the biggest is regulatory.

Another challenge is getting my YouTube Channel to 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 viewing hours, which is the threshold before You Tube allows me to monetize the channel.  It is one of the ways I am hoping to generate the revenue to fund this project. 

Here is the link to my Youtube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBlQN6hhDt0) and the latest episode which features the installation of the HyrdroVane.  If you have the time to watch it, please leave a comment and if you liked it, then click like and most of all please subscribe.  It is free.

Link to my blog: www.pacificsolo.com

Thanks TSPS for helping me realize a dream!

The Bridge of the Tokyo Sail and Power Squadron (TSPS) is excited to announce that we have received formal approval to join the UK-based Royal Yachting Association (RYA) as an Affiliated Club. TSPS is the only RYA Affiliated Club in Japan, and one of a handful of such clubs in East Asia. TSPS will continue to be a member squadron in the United States Power Squadrons, so there are no changes in that regard.

Formed in 1875, the RYA is a UK national organization for boating, including dinghy, yacht and motor cruising, all forms of sail racing, and other forms of sports boats and personal watercraft. Although headquartered in the UK, the RYA is a global association and RYA Affiliated Clubs (numbering 1,400+) include over 337,500+ members globally with more than 2,500 RYA Recognized Training Centers across almost 50 countries. More than 250,000 people a year complete RYA training courses. The RYA has over 110,000 personal members.

TSPS will receive the following four major benefits from RYA affiliation:

(1) TSPS will be eligible to become an assessment center for the International Certificate of Competence (ICC), which is required in most European countries, as well as many other countries, for chartering yachts. As an ICC assessment center, TSPS can help our members obtain their ICC before traveling outside of Japan;

(2) TSPS will be able to promote ourselves through the RYA website and newsletters to other RYA clubs and members as their first stop in Japan for all boating related information, classes, and JMRA licensing;

(3) TSPS education will see further improvement from RYA affiliation by leveraging RYA educational materials to supplement existing USPS materials for practical boating education. In the future, TSPS also expects to progress to become an RYA Recognized Training Center, which means that TSPS members will be able to obtain internationally recognized training and development certificates in the Tokyo/Yokohama area including Competent Crew, Day Skipper, and the prestigious Yachtmaster;

(4) Finally, TSPS will be able to provide members interested in dinghy or yacht racing in Japan with access to RYA racing rules, handicapping, coaching, training of racing officials, and other support services.

The Bridge is very excited with RYA affiliation and we look forward to offering even more services to our members going forward. To learn more about the RYA, please visit: http://www.rya.org.uk

Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Change of Watch this year was postponed and rescheduled for April 30 via Zoom. The results of the election of the proposed Bridge officers for 2020 were presented by Secretary David Sutton Kirby (38 aye, 0- nay). Then the new Bridge was sworn in by Past Commanders Dick Schultz and Per Knudsen. (Click here to see the 2020 Bridge officers).

Following this Commander David Edwards presented a short report on the past year and goals for the future:

A. 2019 TSPS Financials in JPY (Info available upon request)

B. 2020 TSPS Members (David and John)

• Current membership is 95, which is the same number of members vs previous year’s CoW
• Impressive that membership has been stable, especially given the challenges posed by COVID-19 since March 2020. However, the full impact remains to be seen.
• Between January 2017 and today, the monthly number of TSPS members has fluctuated between 83 (January 2018) and 103 (June 2019)
  • January 2017   84
  • January 2018   83
  • January 2019   94
  • January 2020   96
  • 30 April            95 
• Other squadrons in TSPS’s District, which includes southern California, have seen membership declines of -9% on average in 2019
• In 2019, USPS squadrons as a whole saw membership fall from 24,622 to 23,008 (approx. -6.6%) 

E. 2020 TSPS Bridge Goals (David)

1. Continue to offer JMRA Class 1 and 2 license courses, as well as sailing classes (Basic and Intermediate) and club rentals from Hayama Marina (Yamaha 30 boats). We also will aim to increase the number of qualified education and sailing instructors.

2. Offer OTW opportunities for TSPS members to go cruising (and possibly informal racing!) in Tokyo Bay, Sagami Bay, and in Kyushu/Seto-naikai, and investigate business models allowing for boat ownership, including low-cost dinghies that are great for practicing sailing.

3. Affiliate with the 335,000+ member strong Royal Yachting Association (RYA) so that our members have the opportunity to obtain their ICC (International Certificate of Competence) for international yacht charters in Europe and make TSPS the first stop for RYA members looking to sail in Japan. RYA affiliates also receive a variety of yacht racing-related and training services.

• In comparison, the RYA is about 14.5x larger than USPS, which has 23,008 members as of January 2020
• TSPS will aim to eventually become an assessment center for the ICC

4. Continue to offer TSPS social activities including monthly Keelhauls (first Wednesday of every month), summer and fall BBQs, and Tokyo’s best year-end Bonenkai.

5. Grow an increasingly diverse membership base and club culture with a focus on welcoming women and people new to boating in cooperation with Tokyo Sailability. TSPS plans to have a booth at the Japan International Boat Show 2021 in Yokohama to support this goal.