Miyako island in Okinawa Prefecture played host to the inaugural Defi Wind Japan last month and interestingly the City of Miyakojima, which includes not only Miyako Island, but also five other populated islands, is twinned with the island of Maui! Japanese windsurfing culture is one of the most interesting in the world and combining it with the DéfiWind concept was always going to be an interesting mix; we talk to some of the athletes and organisers to get a flavour of the event.
SARAH-QUITA OFFRINGA
The first time I saw anything about Miyako island was about two years ago. Andrea Cucchi and Matteo Iachino sailing near a bridge over impossibly blue water!! What a sight. Not something you’d expect from Japan right? So when I received the invite for this event I grabbed the opportunity with both hands. I’ve been to Tokyo once and most people visiting Japan will only go there, but how many people will be able to say they’ve been to the tropical islands in the south of Japan? Fun fact - people in Okinawa, which is the bigger island near Miyako, live to over a hundred years old! So maybe there is something magical about this place!
Getting to Miyako felt like an odyssey. I did two 11 hour flights in a row before having a layover in Tokyo. I arrived there in the afternoon with the Dutch windsurf magazine editor Mart. Obviously we had to check out town, so we went to Shibuya crossing. It was a funny process finding the right metro ticket and transferring at different stations. Apparently Japanese people have a hard time saying no, so even when they mean no, their head will still shake yes, which left our jet lagged and foggy brains confused. We finally figured it out with some help with people on the subway. Had some rice and noodles in town before finding our way back with our sleepy heads, to catch four hours of much-needed sleep before our last flight to Miyako.
It took me 3 flights and about 50 hours in total before I could stretch my legs and set foot outside the airport in Miyako only to arrive at the beach and feel like I never left home!. The water was gorgeous and there was a welcoming breeze. Guys like Phillip Koester, Bjorn Dunkerbeck, Andrea Cucchi and Boujmaa Guilloul were there as well.
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