The first Asian to complete the Vendée Globe, twice under the name of his mentor
Kōjirō Shiraishi, born on May 8, 1967 in Tokyo, completed the Vendée Globe twice aboardDMG Mori Global One — 16th in 2020-2021 (94 days 21 hours 32 minutes 56 seconds), 24th in 2024-2025 (90 days 21 hours 34 minutes 41 seconds). He is the only Asian to have finished the race. All his boats have carried the nameSpirit of Yukoh, in tribute to his mentor Yukoh Tada.
The Yukoh Tada legacy
Shiraishi met Yukoh Tada at 19 and became his apprentice in 1986. Tada, class winner in the 1982-83 BOC Challenge, took his own life in Sydney in 1991 during the following BOC. Shiraishi took over the project and never let go: Spirit of Yukoh, Spirit of Yukoh II, III, IV, then V (alias DMG Mori Global One). Thirty years of racing under the same flag.
The 2016 dismasting and the 2021 finish
The first Asian at the start of the 2016 Vendée Globe, Shiraishi dismasted on December 4 off Cape of Good Hope and retired. Four years later he returned withDMG Mori Global One, a VPLP-designed IMOCA with foils built by Multiplast from the molds ofCharal (tumblehome bow, Gurit structure, launched in 2019), and finished the race in 16th place. The promise made to Tada was kept.
2024-2025: finishing with five fewer battens
For his second Vendée Globe, Shiraishi raced with the same boat as in 2020. In the Indian Ocean, two accidental jibes cost him five mainsail battens and two days of racing. He still finished, in 90 days 21 hours 34 minutes — faster than in 2021 despite the damage. 24th out of 32 finishers on February 9, 2025.
And after: The Ocean Race 2027
In July 2024, the DMG Mori Sailing Team announced a new IMOCA designed by Guillaume Verdier and Multiplast for The Ocean Race 2027. Shiraishi’s first boat not designed by VPLP sinceSpirit of Yukoh V.
Career highlights
- 1994: non-stop solo circumnavigation in 176 days aboardSpirit of Yukoh, at age 26 — the youngest sailor to complete such a circumnavigation at the time.
- 2002-2003: 4th in the Around Alone in the Open 40 class (Class II) aboardSpirit of Yukoh II.
- 2006-2007: 2nd in the Velux 5 Oceans on an Open 60 aboardSpirit of Yukoh III, behind Bernard Stamm (118 days 1 hour 42 minutes, 43 minutes behind the winner).
- 2016-2017: first Asian at the start of the Vendée Globe aboardSpirit of Yukoh IV. Dismasted on December 4, 2016 off Cape of Good Hope, retired.
- 2020-2021: 16th in the Vendée Globe in 94 days 21 hours 32 minutes 56 seconds aboardDMG Mori Global One. First Asian to finish the race.
- 2024-2025: 24th in the Vendée Globe in 90 days 21 hours 34 minutes 41 seconds aboardDMG Mori Global One, despite the loss of five mainsail battens after two accidental jibes in the Indian Ocean.
