83-year-old Japanese man becomes oldest person to sail solo non-stop across Pacific

An 83-year-old Japanese man named Kenichi Horie has reportedly become the oldest person in the world to complete a solo voyage across the Pacific Ocean.

Horie, who is already a famous yachtsman in Japan, completed his 69-day journey on Saturday. He had started his adventure from a yacht harbour in San Francisco in March and crossed the Kii Strait off Japan's western coast last week. He survived on canned food and rice all throughout his journey.

His public relations team said that his latest feat has made him the world's oldest person to pull off a solo, non-stop crossing of the largest and deepest ocean on Earth.

This was not Horie's only achievement. He had become the first person in the world to sail alone across the Pacific in 1962. He was 23 years old when he made the voyage from Japan to San Francisco.

The 1962 voyage had brought him some notoriety as he had crossed into San Francisco without a passport or any money. He was arrested soon after arrival but was later released and awarded a visa for his bravery.

He said that he "was constantly anxious" and worried that he would be caught during his 1962 trip but the current voyage was different and he enjoyed it thoroughly.

"But this time it's different, I was sent off by many people and have their support through tracking systems and wireless radio. I couldn't be more grateful," he said. "Don't let your dreams just stay as dreams. Have a goal and work towards achieving this and a beautiful life awaits," he said after completing his arduous journey, per The Guardian.

Horie managed to successfully complete the voyage despite facing a storm right in the beginning. He also had some struggles during the last days of the non-stop voyage as he had to fight an adverse current for three days.

Horie had also sailed around the world solo in 1974 and had travelled longitudinally around the world between 1978 and 1982.