Blind sailor, supporter rescued

Blind sailor, supporter rescued

TOKYO, Japan - Blind sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (2nd from front, R) and his supporter and newscaster Jiro Shimbo (front) get off a rescue flying boat at the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Atsugi Base in Kanagawa Prefecture on June 21, 2013. The pair were rescued earlier in the day by the MSDF in the Pacific off northeastern Japan after their small yacht was flooded with seawater. They had left a port in northeastern Japan on June 16, 2013, in a bid to cross the Pacific to San Diego, California.

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

OSAKA, Japan - Blind sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (R) and his partner Jiro Shinbo pose for photos on a small yacht before setting sail from Osaka harbor on June 8, 2013. They plan to cross the Pacific Ocean in what the organizer calls the world's first such attempt by such a pair.

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

OSAKA, Japan - Blind sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L) and his partner Jiro Shinbo set sail on a small yacht from Osaka harbor on June 8, 2013. They plan to cross the Pacific Ocean in what the organizer calls the world's first such attempt by such a pair.

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

Blind sailor, partner set sail to cross Pacific

OSAKA, Japan - Blind sailor Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L) and his partner Jiro Shinbo pose for photos on a small yacht before setting sail from Osaka harbor on June 8, 2013. They plan to cross the Pacific Ocean in what the organizer calls the world's first such attempt by such a pair.

Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Tokyo Olympic torch relay

Tokyo Olympic torch relay runner Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L), a blind Japanese sailor who sailed across the Pacific Ocean in 2019, poses for a photo in Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture on May 5, 2021, with Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of the southwestern Japan prefecture.

Blind Japanese sailor

Blind Japanese sailor

Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L), a blind Japanese sailor, celebrates with a sighted navigator, after successfully completing a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima Prefecture on April 20, 2019. The success made him the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Blind Japanese sailor

Blind Japanese sailor

Photo taken April 20, 2019, shows Dream Weaver, on which Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L), a blind Japanese sailor, successfully completed a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima Prefecture with sighted navigator Doug Smith on April 20, 2019. The success made Iwamoto the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

Blind Japanese sailor

Blind Japanese sailor

Mitsuhiro Iwamoto (L), a blind Japanese sailor, celebrates with a sighted navigator, after successfully completing a near two-month, non-stop voyage from San Diego to Fukushima Prefecture on April 20, 2019. The success made him the first to make a so-called blind sailing Pacific Ocean crossing. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo