Japan's Horie Happy after Completing Trans-Pacific Voyage

Nishinomiya, Hyogo Pref., June 5 (Jiji Press)--Japanese sea adventurer Kenichi Horie said Sunday that he is happy he managed to complete his nonstop trans-Pacific solo voyage on a sailboat, becoming the world's oldest person to do so. "Becoming the oldest person to sail across the Pacific solo was one of my dreams," the 83-year-old yachtsman told a news conference in a marina in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan. "It's a great joy that I was able to finish it safely." Prior to the conference, a ceremony was held to celebrate his return as hundreds of spectators looked on. As he stepped down from his boat, the Suntory Mermaid III, to make an appearance, he drew smiles from many when he said lightheartedly, "Sorry to keep you all waiting." Horie said he had no major health problem during his 69-day, 8,500-kilometer voyage, adding that the only medical goods he used on the boat were eyedrops and adhesive plasters. "I'm in the middle of my youth," he also said. In the press conference, Horie said he struggled with preparations for the voyage because of the novel coronavirus pandemic. "I was always wondering when I would be told to stop. I felt as if I was walking on thin ice," he said. In 1962, Horie, then 23, became the world's first person to successfully cross the Pacific on a sailboat solo and nonstop, sailing from Japan to the United States. This time, he traveled the opposite route. He started from under San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge on March 26 local time and arrived at his goal off Wakayama Prefecture, also western Japan, on Saturday. END