Hiro Iwamoto:  Blind Champion Sailor

I first met Hiro when we sailed together in 2009.  It was easy to notice his excellent sailing skills onboard B’Quest II.  We crewed the 43′ sloop, along with many others, in the Border Run from Newport Beach to San Diego.  Hiro is a medium height, thin, 44 year old man, whose senses have been honed to a sharp point; Hiro feels because he doesn’t see.

Born with a congenital vision defect known as Retinal Chondro Atrophy, Hiro began to have problems in his youth.  In high school he began bumping into things, then stumbling on stairways and finally realizing he needed a cane to walk, he began to accept his blindness.

Hiro was born in 1966 in a small town called Amakusa City in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.  He met his future wife, an American living in Japan, in 1992 and was half of a long distance relationship as Karen returned to the states with her family.  Hiro came to the U.S. to study, married Karen, and she introduced him to the sport of sailing in 2002.  They currently live in San Diego and have one daughter.

In 2008 Hiro discovered Challenged America (CA) where a firm bond was soon forged.  Hiro began sailing the Martin 16’s that CA typically provides and then moved on to the Catalina 22, the 43′ B’Quest II and had the opportunity to race on her with Dennis Conner.   Hiro also has crewed in the Hot Rum and summertime Beer Can series here in San Diego.

What I didn’t know was just how good a sailor Hiro is.  In 2006 he was the Japanese Blind Sailing  Champion, a title he won in Rhode Island.  On the east coast he sailed a Sonar 23 and J-22 .

Currently, as the age of 44, Hiro is training to sail, double-handed, across the Pacific in a 45 foot Hunter sloop.  Reaching Japan from the west coast of the U.S., a distance of over four thousand miles, would be a dream come true for Hiro.

Another of Hiro’s dreams is to give seminars on “Lighting the fire of life.”  Hiro has been through the depression that accompanied his developing disability.  He has persisted, doggedly at times; he has put his energy on a positive tack and made an exciting life for himself.  He would like to share his passion with others that need a spark to light-up their days, to put them on the right track and help them renew their fervor for life.

Hiro thanks Challenged America for getting him involved in the sailing program at Shelter Island. Meeting other great sailors like Urban Miyares, Dennis Conner and others.  There, he participated in a program that puts those with disabilities in a boat where their disabilities can be forgotten, their limits can be temporarily overcome, and their spirits can soar.  Life may be full of challenges for those with disabilities and those without, but like any challenge, when you persevere you have a much greater chance of winning; just look at Hiro.

Editor’s Note:  Our first communication from Hiro was in August, 2003 when, referred by a Japanese sailor with a disability who raced at a Challenged America event.  Hiro then wanted to come to the United States and sail with Challenged America as a member of its next Transpac Team.

SAILOR PROFILE by Marshall Lubin