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Life

Kenichi Horie becomes oldest person to cross Pacific solo at 83

Japanese yachtsman follows up 1962 feat as first to make crossing alone

Kenichi Horie stands on the deck of the Suntory Mermaid III in the early hours of June 4, successfully sailing across the Pacific from San Francisco to Japan's Kii Peninsula on a 69-day voyage.

OSAKA -- Well-known Japanese yachtsman Kenichi Horie, 83, arrived on June 4 off the Kii Peninsula in western Japan after crossing the Pacific, becoming the oldest person to sail solo and nonstop across the world's largest body of water.

Horie set sail from San Francisco on March 26 on a voyage lasting 69 days. The trip, which covered about 8,700 km, went relatively smoothly. But he had to battle through bad weather at times, sailing into a storm and high seas immediately after leaving San Francisco. In his online diary, he wrote, "Can't do anything but wait for it to pass." In a later entry, he simply wrote: "I'm fed up." 

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