TOKYO, Japan: An 83-year-old Japanese man, Kenichi Horie, has emerged as the oldest person in the world to complete a solo, nonstop voyage across the Pacific Ocean, taking 69 days after leaving San Francisco in late March.
Horie returned home, crossing the Kii Strait off Japan’s western coast early June 4.
Horie was towed into his home port of Shin Nishinomiya yacht harbor, where he was welcomed by local residents and supporters holding banners.
As he approached the harbor, Horie, standing in his boat, took off his white cap and waved.
Stating that he only used eye drops and band-aids during his more than two months alone at sea, he said, “That shows how healthy I am. I’m still in the middle of my youth,” as reported by the Associated Press.
This was the latest record-setting achievement for the octogenarian adventurer.
In 1962, he became the first person in the world to successfully complete a solo nonstop voyage across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco.
Horie has completed other long-distance solo voyages, including sailing around the world in 1974. His latest expedition was the first since his 2008 solo nonstop voyage on a wave-powered boat from Hawaii to Japan’s Kii Strait.
