Yachtsman Kenichi Horie, who has twice circumnavigated the globe, will take up a new challenge in October 2004 when he embarks on a solo nonstop voyage around the world eastbound around Cape Horn in a boat made of recycled materials.
Horie, 64, said he will sail the 13-meter yacht Suntory Mermaid about 50,000 km in seven to eight months. Departing from Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, he will travel southeastward east of Hawaii, around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, and then through the Tasman Sea and up past Guam.
"As I am sailing with the blessing of many past voyagers, beginning with (Ferdinand) Magellan, who first sailed around the world, I would like to pay my respects to them with this voyage," Horie told a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.