The only sporting event of any kind that involves crossing into Taiwan from another country, the Yonaguni-Hualien Friendship Yacht Race, is scheduled to take place next week from April 30 until May 1.
The race connects Taiwan to the nearest piece of Japanese territory, the small island of Yonaguni, and will include a Taiwanese entry for the first time ever.
The race will start in Yonaguni on April 30 and the yachts will arrive in Hualien harbor around 14 or 15 hours later on May 1.
By the most direct route, Yonaguni is only 111km directly east of Taiwan.
The race route is slightly longer, however, as it first circles Yonaguni island, then bears west-southwest to Hualien.
Inaugural race
By comparison, Yonaguni is more than 520km from the Japanese island Okinawa and over 2000km from Tokyo.
Regattas from Japan to Taiwan have taken place twice before -- in 1998 and 2000 -- but this is only the second time that Yonaguni has served as the point of origin.
The inaugural race set out from the next closest Japanese island, Ishigaki (about 210km distant), and was mainly the result of Japanese enthusiasts' desire to sail to Taiwan.
"Yachtsmen are excited that they can visit another country by travelling such a short distance. Now this is one of the top three border-crossing regattas in Japan, and we've drawn boats from Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa," said Tomonori Shikina, head of the Okinawa Sailing Federation, which is organizing the race.
In all, this year's race will include 11 vessels of 9m to 15m and more than 100 crew. Among them will be the race's first-ever Taiwanese entry, the 12.5m Motivation.
"We've been practicing for about six months and if the weather conditions are right, we might have a chance to win," said Motivation's skipper, Pan Wei-hua (潘偉華).
"The boat was designed for downwind racing, so we need a breeze coming from behind," he added.
Pan also served as a skipper in the previous two Japan-Taiwan races, both times on Japanese boats.
He first got involved with the Japanese yachtsmen as a student in Okinawa in 1998.
Then, two years ago he manned the helm on Shikina's boat, the Coco Lin.
Security problems
Taiwan's participation -- one boat in three years -- has been so meager because tight national security measures and strict regulations on ocean activities have left sailing an almost completely undeveloped sport.
Pan said he could count all the ocean-worthy sailboats in Taiwan on his "own 10 fingers" and that there are only three marinas, but "they don't have any boats in them."
Moreover, he said there are no competitions for large sailboats in Taiwan because there would be no one to participate.
Pan described the Yonaguni-Hualien race as a "weekend race" for serious sailors, but still considered Taiwan's first entry as groundbreaking.
"If we can be the first, others can follow," he said.
For the race itself, boats will be divided into two classes, with the first class consisting of racers and cruiser/racers, which are generally the larger of the boats.
The second class will consist of cruisers and other smaller boats. Yachts in both classes will be assigned handicaps that will be used in calculating race times and finishing order.
Since all boats will start together from Yonaguni, the first one into Hualien will not necessarily be the winner, as handicaps must still be figured into the times.
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