Japanese sailor oldest to make nonstop, solo Pacific crossing

Japanese ocean adventurer Horie Kenichi has become the oldest person to complete a solo, nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean on a yacht.

Horie, aged 83, crossed the finish line in the Kii Channel, between the western Japanese prefectures of Wakayama and Tokushima, at 2:39 a.m. on Saturday. He left San Francisco on the US West Coast in late March.

Sixty years ago, he sailed from Japan to San Francisco by yacht, becoming the first person to cross the Pacific alone with no port calls. He took the opposite route this time.

His 69-day-long voyage covered a distance of around 8,500 kilometers. He broke the previous age record by more than 10 years.

Footage taken on Saturday morning shows Horie on his vessel as it was being towed toward a yacht harbor in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture.

He will speak to reporters at the harbor on Sunday after clearing quarantine and immigration procedures.