The Hindu : International : Old man and the seas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 08, 2005

International

International

Old man and the seas

71-year-old circumnavigates globe

TOKYO: A 71-year-old Japanese yachtsman became the oldest person to successfully finish a solo, non-stop, around-the-world voyage when he arrived at a port in central Japan, his supporters and news reports said.

Minoru Saito docked his yacht, the Shutendoji II in Miura, Kanagawa prefecture (State) late on Monday — 234 days after he left Japan for his seventh circumnavigation of the globe.

Just one day later, another Japanese adventurer, Kenichi Horie (66), returned to Japan after a similar voyage — his second successful solo, non-stop, around-the-world voyage, according to a statement on his web site. Upon arriving, Mr. Saito had joked with supporters, "I have failed! I was not able to break 180 days."

"To all of my supporters, thank you so much," he said on NHK public TV, as the crowd broke into cheers and applause.

Mr. Saito's supporters, as well as Japanese media and independent adventure web sites said he was the oldest to successfully complete the voyage, renewing the previous record, set by himself in 1999 when he was 65. Mr. Saito's trip took him past New Zealand, around the southern tip of Chile, South Africa's Cape of Good Hope and Tasmania island on a roughly 50,000 km journey.

Mr. Horie left the port of Nishinomiya in western Japan in October and followed a similar route taken by Mr. Saito. — AP

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