Meet Japan's Kenichi Horie, the oldest man to sail solo non-stop across Pacific

Kenichi Horie, 83, of Japan, just became the oldest person in the world to finish a solo, nonstop sail across the Pacific Ocean - yet he claims he is still "in the thick of my youth" and not done yet. Horie came home after crossing the Kii Strait off Japan's western coast, completing his trans-Pacific solo expedition in 69 days after departing from a yacht harbour in San Francisco in late March.

After spending the night on his 19-foot-long, 990-kilogram Suntory Mermaid III just off the coast, Horie was towed into his home port of Shin Nishinomiya yacht harbour on Sunday, where he was greeted by local residents and supporters, some holding banners that read, "Welcome back, Mr. Kenichi Horie!"

Horie, standing on his boat, removed his white cap and waved as he neared the harbour. Then he stepped off the boat, removed his cap, and bowed deeply on the dock before being presented with rose bouquets.

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"Thank you for your patience!" Horie, tanned and his white hair longer than usual, stated. He stated he had medicine from San Francisco but only used eye drops and band-aids throughout his more than two months at sea alone. "That demonstrates how healthy I am," Horie stated. "I'm still in the prime of my life." He claimed the voyage "burned all my body and spirit," but he's eager for more.

It was the latest global record for the octogenarian explorer, who became the first person in 1962 to successfully finish a solo nonstop journey across the Pacific from Japan to San Francisco. He took the other path sixty years later.

He encountered a storm shortly after leaving San Francisco, but the weather progressively improved, and he arrived in Hawaii ahead of schedule in mid-April. He had considerable difficulties at the finish due to a few days of pushback from a strong tide. On Friday, he wrote on his blog that he had succeeded but was fatigued, and that he had taken a sleep after feeling certain that his boat was on the proper route to the finish line.

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Horie has performed numerous long-distance solo expeditions, including a round of the globe in 1974. His most recent adventure was his first since a single continuous sail on a wave-powered boat from Hawaii to the Kii Strait in 2008.

• Japanese
• Kenichi Horie
• Pacific Ocean
• Suntory Mermaid III
• sailing
• Shin Nishinomiya yacht
• Japan