WORLD> Newsmaker
|
WORLD> Newsmaker
|
|
Record-setting sailor says up for adventure till 100
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-07 11:30
TOKYO -- Record-setting Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie said Sunday he would seek out new adventures until he turns 100, after his world-first solo voyage across the Pacific in a boat propelled by wave power. The 69-year-old sailor and environmentalist reached waters off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan late Friday, completing a 110-day voyage from Hawaii without a port call. "I'll hold out until I reach triple digits," the silver-haired Horie said of his age as he greeted supporters in his home harbour in Nishinomiya in the west. "If there is a chance in the near future, I want to sail out to sea," the adventurer said at a welcome ceremony carried live on television. He was originally scheduled to return home in late May, but weak waves and ocean currents delayed his arrival. "As there is still food for another month in the boat, I might just as well enjoy (the voyage) a bit longer," he said, drawing laughter. His 9.5-metre (31-foot) catamaran, the Suntory Mermaid II, is equipped with two special fins at the front which can move like a dolphin's tail each time the vessel rises or falls with the rhythm of the waves. Horie, who will turn 70 in September, reached his destination in the channel between the main Japanese islands of Honshu and Shikoku after covering some 7,000 kilometres (3,780 nautical miles).
Horie first made headlines in 1962 when, at the age of 23, he became the first Japanese to sail solo across the Pacific Ocean. He embarked on that voyage despite breaking Japanese law, which did not allow its citizens to sail on their own out of the country, and without a passport or money. He was arrested upon arrival in San Francisco but the city mayor freed him, gave him a 30-day visa and made him an honorary citizen. News of his achievement made him a hero back home in Japan and his book about the journey, "Kodoku (Alone in the Pacific)", was made into a film. Since then, he has completed numerous sailing trips across the Pacific and around the world. His projects have included sailing boats that rely on a single solar battery or are made from recycled materials. |
