Seventy years is an incredible milestone, but it isn’t measured simply by the passing of time. It’s measured by the people who made those years possible.
For seven decades, countless volunteers have dedicated their time, energy, and passion to keeping TSPS alive. Every Bridge Officer who stepped up to lead, every instructor who patiently shared their knowledge, every event organizer, cruise captain, committee member, and volunteer has helped shape the club into what it is today.
Because of them, thousands of moments have been created—first boating experiences, lifelong friendships, unforgettable cruises, monthly Keelhauls, celebrations, and countless stories shared on and off the water.
Many members have devoted decades of their lives to TSPS. Their experience, mentorship, and commitment have created a welcoming environment where newcomers quickly feel at home and traditions are passed from one generation to the next.
What makes TSPS truly special isn’t just the activities we organize—it’s the people behind them. The members who arrive early to set up, stay late to clean up, volunteer without being asked, teach with patience, lead with kindness, and always make room for one more person at the table.
As we celebrate our 70th anniversary, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to everyone who has contributed to this remarkable journey. Whether you served on the Bridge, taught a boating course, organized an event, volunteered behind the scenes, or simply shared your enthusiasm and friendship, you have helped build something that has lasted for generations.
Thank you for making TSPS more than a boating club. Thank you for making it a community.
Here’s to the past 70 years, and to everyone who will help write the next chapter.
P.S. One of my favorite parts of putting this together was diving into the Skuttlebutt archives in search of old photos. I ended up staying far longer than I planned, completely absorbed in the stories. Adventures, bravery, freedom, a little bit of craziness… they reminded me of the books I loved as a kid (yes, that wasn’t that long ago 😉).
What an incredible history this club has. If you have a spare moment, take a trip down memory lane—you might even spot yourself or some familiar faces. And if you’re newer to TSPS, it’s the perfect way to discover the amazing people and adventures that have shaped our community over the past 70 years.
We’re bringing back the TSPS BBQ Weekend at Lake Inawashiro — and this year we’ve moved it from September to July in hopes of finally getting those perfect summer lake conditions: warmer water, more sunshine, and better wind for all the fun stuff.
The plan is simple: come to the lake, relax on the beach, swim, try wakeboarding, sailing, windsurfing, or canoeing, have a drink at sunset, throw a frisbee around, and just enjoy a great summer weekend with good people. Depending on weather and energy levels, some activities may continue the next morning too.
Last year’s event had such a great atmosphere because everyone helped out a little, and that’s exactly what made it special. So bring your favorite drinks, a cooler, a chair if you can, and your best summer mood. TSPS will provide the boats, equipment, food, soft drinks, and the overall chaos management.
We’re also looking for a few volunteers to help with grilling, cleanup, watching the water, and driving boats or jet skis. Yamaha boat or jetski drivers helping for half a day will receive a ¥5,000 discount.
The event will take place again at Tate Hama in Koriyama City, Fukushima. There’s camping onsite and hotels nearby in Inawashiro and Bandai Atami.
Spots are limited to around 30 people, and payment secures your place, so don’t wait too long to sign up.
The Yokohama Boat Show 2026 is just over the horizon, and the harbor is already buzzing with excitement. While TSPS won’t be hosting a booth this year, one of our most loved traditions is making its return — SuperKeelhaul is back!
Join us for an evening of great food, great people, and great conversations as we gather just minutes away from the show venue. This is one of our favorite community meet-ups of the year — relaxed, social, and open to everyone: members, friends, families, crew, and newcomers alike.
We’ll be gathering at Wolfgang Puck Yokohama, an easy 10-minute walk from the Boat Show — the perfect spot for good cuisine, boat talk, laughter, and reconnecting with the community.
⚓ Event Details
Date: Saturday, March 21 Time: From 5:00 PM Venue: Wolfgang Puck Yokohama Fee: ¥5,500 per person (members & non-members) Children: Free for little sailors under 12 Payment deadline: March 8
🎟 Member benefit: Show your Boat Show ticket and receive ¥1,000 cashback (invitation tickets don`t work that way 😉
Spots are limited, so we encourage early booking to secure your place. We look forward to welcoming you for another unforgettable SuperKeelhaul evening.
This year we’re going back to the InterContinental Tokyo Bay’s beautiful Manhattan Room, where you can enjoy the Rainbow Bridge and Odaiba shining across the bay.
This time, we want to welcome your family and friends as part of the community, so we’ve set the same price for everyone! (Except for kids – those little beasts are free as usual 🙂 )
And..! We want to give ALL OF YOU a big thank-you for being with us, so this year we’ll skip the awards and have a fun BINGO night instead!!!
Hope to see you, your family, and your friends there soon!
After surviving the long, steamy Tokyo summer, we’ve finally sailed into autumn, and you know what that means – it’s BBQ season again! Yes, the legendary TSPS Autumn BBQ at Tokyo Yumenoshima Marina is back!
This year, we’re keeping it simple and fun – no nomihodai, so bring your own drinks (creative choices welcome ).
What a weekend we had at Inawashiro Lake! Sun, sails, speed, and some seriously good food made this year’s BBQ one to remember.
The Yamaha jet ski was the star of the show – a top-of-the-line machine hitting 98 kph. For several members it was their very first ride, and one even called it a “bucket list moment.” Not a bad way to spend a Saturday! Sailing conditions Saturday morning were just right for learning, with one new Sunfish sailor logging hours of practice alongside an experienced instructor. Windsurfing and sailing kept going right up until the BBQ kicked off at 5 pm. …And what a BBQ it was. Frank deserves legendary status for running two charcoal grills at once, chicken and potatoes sizzling on one, steaks on the other. Huge thanks also to Nao and Yumikofor making it all happen. On Sunday morning, French toast and bacon brought everyone together again – probably the one thing that actually went according to plan that day!
Sunday’s adventures continued with the Yamaha jet boat. Five members had a blast wakeboarding and cruising, even if the ride back across the lake was a head-banging battle with the chop. Spirits stayed high, though – no waves could sink the fun. The wind cranked up on Sunday, keeping most of the boats grounded. Safety first! By late afternoon the gusts eased and a few lucky sailors squeezed in one last session before heading home.
Even for those who couldn’t get on the water as much as they hoped, feedback was overwhelmingly positive – from the beautiful scenery, to the great food, and the lively atmosphere shared with fellow TSPS members.
Special thanks to Alex, who not only repaired the blue Sunfish after some damage but also added two extra outlets to the storage container. Future sailors will thank you!
All in all – an amazing weekend with the best crew around. Can’t wait to do it again next year!
Its happening again, the TSPS Member’s BBQ at Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima Prefecture SEPTEMBER 13-14. It worked well last year so we are going to do it pretty much the same with only a few tweaks. Like last year – members can arrive and hang out on the beach, swim if they want, try wakeboarding, try sailing a Sunfish dinghy, try windsurfing, try a Canadian canoe, have a hot dog or a burger when they are ready to eat, play some frisbee.
Depending on demand and resources, some of the activities could be repeated the following morning. The cost for the BBQ is ¥10,000. Please pay here:
Lake Inawashiro BBQ - 2025
MEMBERS/NON-MEMBERS: ¥10,000 per person
Processing ...
Some things need repeating.
1. It requires cooperation, and we know this because the cooperation last year was fantastic, the vibe was great and it is the reason we are going for it again this year. As I said last year, ¥10,000 does not get you a Hyatt resort package, it gives you the opportunity to be part of a great event.
What TSPS brings –
A bunch of boats and equipment to use.
A wonderful set of plastic chairs and a table that Gary Thomas confirmed is available again for us to borrow. A couple of working tables and a grill will be brought over but they will not be enough. Please bring a table and chairs if you can. Bring your own beer, a cooler to put it in, and a chair to sit and enjoy it.
Food – We intend to provide the same level of quality that we served last year. Soft drinks. TSPS recommends you not consume alcohol during the boating activities and wait to drink your booze until you are no longer required to focus on driving or boating or volunteering.
What TSPS is not bringing –
Cooks – we need someone to step up
Lifeguards – we need volunteers to watch the water and watch the Sunfish and canoes as they are likely to tip over if the wind is strong enough.
Boat drivers – Yamaha boat club members that operate a Yamaha boat or jetski for half the day will get a ¥5,000 discount.
Janitors – we need volunteers to ensure our mess is cleaned up and we demonstrate our appreciation by not walking away from a pile of garbage.
2. Unlike last year, we know there is demand for this event and its going to happen. To participate youneed to sign up and pay on Stripe. In the event we reach max capacity which we believe is about 30, the order of payment (not sign up), will determine who can participate. Click on this link to sign up and pay. Members cost ¥10,000, guests cost ¥13,000 but kids under 12 are free.
3. The location, Tate Hama in Konan machi, Koriyama City will be the place again this year. Its a great beach and campground with a lot of room and basic facilities. There are other places to stay about 30 minutes drive in Inawashiro City or in Bandai Atami. The below link has a drive from Tokyo Station mapped out.
After months of sweat, setbacks, and salty language, I am thrilled to report that Gryms is ready: sea trials are complete. She sails like a dream—and believe it or not, she’s the largest vessel in the TSPS fleet, a true ocean-class Swan reborn in Tokyo Bay.
Some of you have followed her rebirth from the very start. You’ll remember how she first came to me: tired, neglected, and full of potential. She’d been through a leaky-valve hell and was languishing at Yumenoshima Marina with a dead engine, flooded tanks, and a bilge reeking of diesel and despair. The folks there estimated it would take upwards of ¥6 million yen just to make her marginally seaworthy.
So yes, she came into my life more or less for free.
But as anyone in this group knows, nothing afloat is truly “free.” What Gryms demanded in cost, she more than made up for in character—and in hours, weeks, and months of restoration work. Together with co-conspirators Evan Burkosky, Tony Hardie, and Freddie Snoxall, we spent Golden Week shaking down every system. Gryms is no longer just afloat—she’s fully deployed.
Golden Week at Sea: A Trial by Wind
Without your own yacht—or without a generous friend who has one—it’s not easy to get serious sea time in Tokyo. But Gryms is no ordinary boat. At 44 feet, she’s big, robust, and built to cross oceans. She sleeps eight. The galley has a top-loading fridge that freezes things. The head has hot water. There’s even a proper shower (which, after Niijima, we really appreciated).
Let’s be clear: this is no marina princess. Gryms is a 1973 Swan, rugged and elegant in equal measure. Her chrome winches gleam, her wood is rich with patina, and when she heels over under full sail—especially flying that magnificent gennaker—she sings.
But this trip wasn’t just to test the boat. It was to test the captain.
Breaking In the Boat… and the Man
I’ve been a solo sailor before. My old 26’ Yamaha carried me all around the Izu islands. But Gryms? Gryms is a different beast. The halyards, reefs, vang—all the important lines—are five meters forward of the helm. This is a team sport, folks, difficult except for the most accomplished to sail solo.
So we flipped the script: Tony helmed, Evan commanded, Freddie napped, and I—Captain Langley—sprang to action, or at least tried to. We set off from Katsuyama for Oshima, then Niijima, with no fixed plan—just wind, waves, and weather to guide us. Six glorious days.
And guide us they did. Gryms faced 30-knot winds with 40 knot gusts, waves crashing over the bow, and a forward hatch that… well… proved not quite weather-tight. Everything in the v-berth got soaked. We discovered some legacy rigging issues that need correction. On the Niijima leg, a storm chased us hard enough to turn us back to Habu, surfing down following seas in what felt like a scene from “Master and Commander”, Captain Evan at the helm (of course! … like Captain Dave in the movie “Forest Gump”).
From Habu the following day, we sprinted to Shimoda, just threading the needle before a second storm rolled in. From there, it was a long haul across Sagami Bay back to the tip of the Yokohama Peninsula, Misaki.
Galley, Guts, and Glory
Here’s the part that surprised even me: we ate like kings.
Almost every meal was aboard—warm, hearty, fast, and easy. The fridge held. The stove worked. The water heater chugged valiantly. The galley needs some ladylike refinement, yes, but nothing failed us when it counted.
And after everyone sprinted home to avoid the traffic, I spent some quality time drying the gennaker, mopping the bilge, and reorganizing the gear. Gryms got knocked around, sure—but she bounced back, and now she’s tighter than ever.
Back at Katsuyama, we’re in full post-voyage cleanup. She’s gleaming again. Shipshape. And oh, what a ship.
Photos
Provisions
On the way to Oshima… all calm at first. Racing to beat the front.
Habu Port, a circular, collapsed-into-the-sea caldera.
The block that exploded under the strain of 40 knot gusts… time of trial.
Shimoda harbor was welcoming… full of boats huddling away from the big storm moving in.
Night time in Habu.
Sailing across the expanse of Sagami Bay, Freddie at the helm.
Mt. Fuji peaking at us from just ’round the corner… Sagami Bay.
Gryms signature staysail, main jib, un-reefed Main.
Captains Evan & Langley guffing it up about something. Shimoda port.
Always fixing things on the fly. Here, Tony insuring hot water for the shower… Wow!
Beverly Hillbillies Revisited: drying-out Gryms after the Niijima dousing (and hatch failure discovery!).
Stupendous 1,000 person rustic onsen deep in Shimoda… co-ed, natch!
Proper charting before ever setting out: more Langley training.
A truly proper galley. The strap is to anchor the chef into the galley. Works like a charm.
Flying the gennaker.
Tony insured that every snack, every meal, was sumptuous and substantial.
Tony’s hot pan did double duty, masterful!
Tuna steaks picked-up for nothing at Umi-no-Eki.
Snacks in mid-voyage, cup of steaming tea or joe… always something.
As long as there is tabasco…
Sparkling head doubles as a shower… teak flooring, hot water.
In Misaki Port, four other sailing yachts, each carrying 8 or more sailors. This is a nicely rigged one!
Berthed in front of Gryms… another 8 sailors.
And another one, ditto.
Gryms in Misaki… that she possesses a certain pedigree is inescapable.
The final yacht in Misaki, meaning the dockside is completely full!
Gryms deck upon return…
Replenishing the deck with some elbow grease…
Captain Timothy, a bit battered for the wear, but like ol’ Gryms, ready for the next venture!
An Invitation to Sail
I look forward to introducing TSPS members to this magnificent vessel. Gryms isn’t just a boat—she’s an adventure. A survivor. A living example of what patience, know-how, and maybe a bit of madness can revive.
So if you’re ready to fly a gennaker, chase the wind, or just share a mug of joe in the cockpit under starlight—let’s get you aboard.
Hello and welcome to my attempt at publishing a series of race reports. My goal is to showcase an on the water activity that TSPS connected me to and to encourage anyone who is interested to give racing a try. For anyone inspired by this or other posts, come say ‘Hi’ at our monthly keelhauls, typically held on the first Wednesday of each month, and I’ll try to connect you with some members looking for crew.
After a few months’ sabbatical, races organized by the Tokyo Yacht Club (TYC) have restarted. The calendar for TYC races is typically once a month from March to November with a pause during typhoon season. This year’s schedule can be found on their website. Last year was my introduction to racing, where sail trim, tactics and execution of maneuvers are the priority. This year, I am improving on those skills and still learning many good lessons.
For the TYC races, I crew on Anais, captained and skippered by Claude. Anais is a 30-foot racer-cruiser with many ways to set and adjust her sails, making it a great boat to experiment with and learn on. Today we had a crew onboard of five, including the skipper. Two on the foredeck, three in the cockpit. With this same crew we have placed first in multiple races last year, but after a long break over winter, and memories of “Did-not-start” and “Did-not-finish” last spring, our goal was simply to start and finish the race in time.
Crew of the Anais
The race was a short 4 leg course in front of Tokyo Disney with the start line closer to shore and the marker set out in the direction of the aqua line. Winds had been forecasted to die at 11:00, exactly when the race was to start. Luckily, we had a steady breeze of about 8 knots from the south and south-east which made for the perfect conditions for an inaugural race. Our strategy was simple, start nearer to the pin end of the start line on a port-side tack and try to make it to the mark with only one maneuver. Due to an LNG tanker anchored near the course, we ended up tacking earlier than ideal, forcing us to make three total tacks in the first leg before rounding the marker.
Dropping the headsail after raising the spinnaker on a starboard tack
The down wind leg has always been perilous for us since we lack experience with spinnakers. Still, the best way to learn is by doing and with only a small mishap where the sail bag got caught up in lines, the spinnaker was flying. The next challenge came in gybing, which we have failed with almost catastrophic results in the past. But we had practiced this last year and were ready to give it a try under the sunny and light wind conditions of the day. It turns out that you forget things after a few months and the first gybe took a few minutes to execute, struggling with the pole. But our new predicament was that we already needed to drop the spinnaker and it was now on our port side while the head sail was rigged to be raised on our starboard. Typically, we would want to drop the spinnaker under the wind shadow of our headsail to make it easier and safer.
Immediately after the first gybe to port tack
Erring on the side of safety, we decided to gybe once more even though that would throw us far off the racecourse. The second gybe went much smoother after realizing that the downhaul of the spinnaker pole should be slacked. In quick succession, we raised the head sail and dropped the spinnaker behind it without incident. A great achievement for this crew. This came at the cost of a good position in the race, but a cost I think we are all happy to pay for safety and experience.
Raising the headsail after a second gybe back to starboard tack to safely drop the spinnaker
The next two legs, we did our best to make up for the lost time dealing with the spinnaker and decided to do the final downwind leg using only the headsail, wing on wing for the most direct route to the finish. In the end we placed seventh in our class, one place ahead of last with a total time of one hour and thirty-one minutes.
Making do with a gaff instead of whisker pole to run dead down wind, wing-on-wing
A few of the big takeaways from the race were:
Double check how everything is rigged, then check it again to make sure nothing will get caught.
Using specific names of lines and what actions are needed will make everything smoother. It becomes easy to forget and only yell out “slack” or “the red one” under pressure.
Releasing the downhaul will help the foredeck crew to maneuver the spinnaker pole when gybing.
Plan the downward legs so that the spinnaker is on the same side as the head sail when approaching the mark.
Our next race will be in early April. If the weather is good then we can put these lessons into practice. If not, we will learn new lessons.
As many of you know, the Yokohama Boat Show is just around the corner! For more details, check out the official page here: Yokohama Boat Show 2025
This year, TSPS won’t have a booth, but don’t worry, we’re bringing back one of our most popular events: SuperKeelhaul! It’s always a great time, and we’d love for you to join us!
We’ll be meeting at Wolfgang Puck Yokohama (only a 10-minute walk from the Boat Show venue). It’s the perfect spot to go out, enjoy some good food, and catch up with friends and fellow boat enthusiasts! Feel free to bring your family and friends along too!
Bonus for members: Show us your Boat Show ticket, and we’ll give you 1,000 yen back!
).
Bonus for members: Show us your Boat Show ticket, and we’ll give you 1,000 yen back!