Kenichi Horie

is a Japanese solo yachtsman. Horie first came to prominence when he became the first person to sail solo across the Pacific Ocean in 1962. He has made other significant solo voyages, usually involving boats exhibiting some sort of environmentally friendly theme, including his 2008 voyage across the Western Pacific Ocean in a wave-powered boat. [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0joaEAMTHqfOtl2MAFNrhmW646A afp.google, Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat] ]

First Solo Voyage Across the Pacific

In 1962 at the age of 23, he became the first person to make a solo crossing of the Pacific Ocean. Leaving Nishinomiya Japan on May 12 [ [http://www.sfweekly.com/2001-04-18/news/tales-of-the-north-pacific/ SFWeekly - Tales of the North Pacific] ] , in 94 days (on August 11) he arrived in San Francisco, California, U.S.A. aboard a convert|19|ft|m|sing=on sailboat called the Mermaid. He arrived with no passport or money and was promptly arrested. After learning of his voyage the mayor freed him and gave him a 30 day visa and was awarded the key to the city.

Book and article

He wrote a book about his voyage, titled "Kodoku" ("Alone on the Pacific"), which was made into a movie (also titled "My Enemy, The Sea") in 1963 by Kon Ichikawa. The movie was nominated for a Golden Globe award. The Mermaid is on display at the San Francisco Maritime Museum since her historic voyage.

Voyages

He has made numerous solo voyages:

In 1974 he circumnavigated from east to west, and in 1978 he circumnavigated from north to south.In 1985 he sailed a solar boat from Hawaii to Chichijima. In 1992 to 1993 he sailed from Hawaii to Okinawa in a pedal powered boat.In 1996 he sailed from Salinas, Ecuador to Tokyo in a solar boat made of recycled aluminum. This crossing covered convert|10000|mi|km in 148 days which earned the Guinness World Record for the fastest ever crossing of the Pacific in a solar-powered boat.

In 1999 he sailed from San Francisco to Japan aboard a boat made primarily from recycled materials. The boat, Malt's Mermaid II, designed by Kennosuke Hayashi, was a convert|32.8|ft|m|sing=on long, convert|17.4|ft|m|sing=on wide, catamaran constructed from 528 beer kegs welded end-to-end in 5 rows (Horie joked that 500 of them were empty) The rigging consisted of two side-by-side masts with junk rig sails made from recycled plastic bottles. This boat is on display in Okura Beach, Akashi.

In 2002 he sailed from Nishinomiya to San Francisco aboard the Mermaid III, which was a replica of the original Mermaid constructed from a variety of recycled materials, including whiskey barrels for the hull, aluminum cans for the mast and plastic soda bottles for the sails.

First Ocean Wave Powered Voyage

In 2008 he travelled solo from Hawaii to the Kii Peninsula in western Japan aboad the 9.5 meter, 3 tonne catamaran Suntory Mermaid II, built at Tsuneishi Shipyard (常石造船) [ [http://www.tsuneishi.co.jp/english/horie/index.html Finished construction of the Suntory Mermaid II] Tsuneishi Forestry Construction Company] . The voyage was the first in a vessel propelled on ocean wave power alone [http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Japanese_eco_adventurer_out_to_ride_12042007.html] .

Horie took more than three months to sail from Hawaii to Japan in his wave powered boat, arriving in Japan on July 4, 2008, but said he was blessed with good weather and tasty fish. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25542656/ Sailor ends convert|4800|mi|km|sing=on wave-powered journey] MSNBC] YachtPal and venerable sailing adventurer Horie ate mostly rice and curry, squid and flying fish he caught. [ [http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gh__u8TRDagqCjQyHrDdhhoaQICw ukpress.google.com, Wave-powered boat finishes crossing] ]

Kenichi left Honolulu March 16, 2008, and completed the 110-day solo voyage at the port of Wakayama in the channel between Honshu and Shikoku islands before midnight (1500 GMT) Friday, July 4, 2008. He covered the 7,000 kilometres (3,780 nautical miles) from Hawaii without a port call. His yacht used wave energy to move 2 fins at its bow and propel it forward, and sailed at an average speed of 1.5 knots. His final home harbour is in the port of Nishinomiya. As an environmentalist, he promotes the use of environmentally friendly boats including those powered by solar battery, are made from recycled materials, etc. He is quoted as saying: "Throughout history, mankind has used wind for power, but no one has appeared to be serious about wave power. I think I'm a lucky boy as this wave power system has remained virtually untouched." [ [http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g0joaEAMTHqfOtl2MAFNrhmW646A afp.google, Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat] ] [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080705/sc_afp/environmentclimatewarmingjapanwavesailingpeoplehorie_080705074552 yahoo.com, Japanese sailor first to cross Pacific in wave-powered boat] ]

Footnote

References

* http://www.solarnavigator.net/kenichi_horie_voyages.htm
* http://www.op97.k12.il.us/cyberteen/2000/summer/voyages.html
* http://news.sawf.org/Lifestyle/37910.aspx
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057553/ IMDB entry for "Alone on the Pacific"]