Japan Information Package

In 2023 we ran our inaugural Sister Cities Rally to Japan in conjunction with the Christchurch and Kurashiki Sister City Committees to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their connection. 

It was a fantastic adventure with a few challenges, and we learned a lot along the way. 

We have a number of our Pacific Rally 2024 participants who are keen to head towards Japan at the end of this season, so we have put together a special package for those heading in that direction which includes: 

1. The Japan rally guide book - updated with the extra content from what we learned last year. (Postage at additional cost).

2. Access to our PredictWind Japan Rally tracker for the boats heading in that direction.

3. A WhatsApp group where you can connect together to share information and ideas.

4. A Document Library on our website where I will load all the paperwork for entering Japan and other destinations along the way and other useful information - which we can also add to at any time with any other things you learn or find that may be useful for others.

5. Potentially a webinar catch up where I can invite the skippers of the yachts who did the trip last year to give you a talk about what they got up to while they were there.

Please note that this is an independent rally, and Island Cruising will act as a hub for resources and to connect you all together and with the others who have sailed that way previously, so that ideas can be shared among the group.

This is not a fully supported rally, so you will need to:

1. Arrange your own weather routing if you wish to use a router

2. Have your boat well set up for a long offshore passage, along with all the equipment needed to potentially ride out a cyclone at sea, a very good handle on your water/fuel/power consumption - you will have long periods at sea, so you can't just turn the engine on when you run out of wind or are low on power. (Our online learning resources can help with this).

3. I'll provide the paperwork that I have for Japan and the places along the way, but you will need to do your own due diligence on how and where to submit it and also all the places you are sailing via. 

4. To support & share any content you find with others heading in the same direction - I can add any extra content into our Document library too so it is a useful resource for everyone to be able to access any useful content. 

Cost

The cost of the Japan Information Package is NZD$200.00 per vessel (plus membership of Island Cruising if not already a member - NZD$129 per person).

Dates

This is an independent rally, so you can sail at your own pace and via any destinations along the way. We will do our best to connect you to others heading in the same direction so you can connect and coordinate to sail together if you wish. 

How to enter?

We have an online entry form.

Please enter online here

Optional Extra:

If you are thinking of heading off in future years and are not already up in the Pacific and would like all our pre-departure support and Pacific content that we offer to boats heading offshore for the first time, you could join the Pacific Rally 2025 for the first part of your trip. 

Other cool resources:

Sailing to the Heart of Japan - by Nicholas Coghlan

I've just finished reading this book about their voyage to Japan. It is excellent, and there are some very useful resources in the back of the book about the ports they visited. Highly recommended.

You can purchase on Amazon here. 

Konpira Consulting 

If you'd like some additional personal support from a local yacht agent based in Japan, Kirk Patterson is based in Japan and offers all kinds of services to support cruisers. There are two Japan Rallies in 2025 and his website has got lots of useful resources. 

Konpira Consulting website