VARIOUS: JAPANESE SAILOR KENICHI HORIE LEAVES U.S. FOR JAPAN ON MALTS MERMAID 11, RECYCLED SHIP MADE OF BEER KEGS

Record ID: 468628

  • Title: VARIOUS: JAPANESE SAILOR KENICHI HORIE LEAVES U.S. FOR JAPAN ON MALTS MERMAID 11, RECYCLED SHIP MADE OF BEER KEGS
  • Date: 29th March 1999
  • Summary: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 28, 1999) (REUTERS -ACCESS ALL) 1. KENICHI HORIE GREETING GEORGE CHRISTOPHER, (MAYOR OF SAN FRANCISCO IN 1962 WHEN HORIE ARRIVED ON HIS FIRST SOLO TRANS PACIFIC VOYAGE) 2. HORIE WITH CHRISTOPHER 3. CAMERA CUTAWAY 4. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) HORIE SAYING: "Good morning, everybody, and thank you for coming. I will be leaving this city which I have many, many fond memories about, at 11:00 a.m., and I will begin my cross-Pacific voyage from the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge at 12:00 noon. I will be stopping in Honolulu and my final destination will be the Akashi Bridge in Japan. When I arrived to the city 37 years ago it was a Sunday, just like today and it was a beautiful day, just like today. It reminds me of the finest day in Japan." 5. CAMERA CUTAWAY 6. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) HORIE SAYING "This voyage is special to me because I just reached sixty this year, but this by no means is going to be my last voyage. It will be my last voyage during this century but I'll go on a lot more during the next century." 7. ZOOM INTO HORIE ON BOARD "MALT'S MERMAID II" 8. PAN FROM MEDIA TO HORIE ON BOARD JAPAN (FILE-1962 -- ACCESS ALL) 9. HORIE ARRIVING BACK IN JAPAN AFTER SUCCESSFULLY SAILING SOLO FROM THERE TO SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 28, 1999) (REUTERS -- ACCESS ALL) 10. CROWDS WAVING GOODBYE TO HORIE FROM SHORE 11. PULL OUT FROM INTERTWINED JAPANESE AND UNITED STATES FLAGS TO BOAT 12. HORIE WAVING TO CROWD AS BOAT LAUNCHES 13. BOAT AT SEA 14. PAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO SKYLINE TO BOAT ON WATER 15. CUTAWAY TO BOAT CARRYING MEMBERS OF MEDIA 16. SAIL OF BOAT BEING RAISED 17. BOAT WITH SAILS FULLY RAISED MOVING ALONG WATER 18. PAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT BOAT TO HORIE'S BOAT 19. WIDE OF GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE WITH FIRE BOAT AND HORIE BOAT IN FOREGROUND 20. WIDE OF BOAT SAILING INTO OPEN SEA Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 13th April 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES; UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, JAPAN
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAEID8Q303NKVJ99VJR9XX9ZSQU
  • Story Text: Japanese marine explorer Kenichi Horie bade farewell
    to San Francisco on Sunday (March 28) as he set sail for Japan
    on "Malt's Mermaid II," a boat made of recycled beer kegs and
    plastic bottles.The trip across the Pacific is nothing new
    for Horie, who has made several such voyages since his first
    solo journey in 1962 from his homeland to the United States.

    As Horie manoeuvered his boat under the Golden Gate
    Bridge in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon (March 28), the
    last of a small flotilla of well wishers headed for shore.

    Horie raised his double masts and began the first leg of his
    journey which will take him to Honolulu, Hawaii.From there he
    will sail non-stop to his final destination in Japan, a
    distance of 11,500 nautical miles.

    Horie's craft is a 10-metre catamaran made entirely of
    recycled materials which has earned it the nickname of the
    "Beer Barrel" yacht.The hull is constructed of 528 stainless
    steel beer barrels, while it deck and cabin are constructed
    from recycled "pet" bottles which are plastic.

    This sea-going vessel is the first in the world to be
    constructed of these recycled materials and was designed by
    Ken-nosuke Hayaki, one of the chief designers of the Nippon
    Challenge, a competitor in the Americas Cup race.

    In 1962 the then 23-year-old Horie made a successful solo
    crossing of the Pacific Ocean for the first time in the world
    in a 19 foot (5.8 meter) plywood "Mermaid" from Nishinomiya to
    San Francisco.At the time, Horie's trip was seen as one of
    courage and hope for the other young Japanese who were working
    hard to rebuild their country following World War II.

    "Mermaid" is now on display in the Maritime Museum in San
    Francisco.

    Since his first crossing, Horie has made eight successful
    voyages, including his 1996 non-stop solo crossing of the
    Pacific from Ecuador to Tokyo in a recycled aluminum
    solar-powered boat.Other voyages include a sail around the
    world with no port call in 1973-74; a longtitudinal
    round-the-world voyage from 1979-82; and pedal powering a sail
    boat from Hawaii to Okinawa, which claimed his time during
    1991-92.

    Now 60-years-old, Horie's ongoing aim is to bring the
    causes of environmental conservation to world-wide attention.

    As with his several previous voyages, Horie's latest adventure
    will focus on environmental causes by the effective
    utlilisation of resources at hand.

    Additionally, Japanese and American children will follow
    his voyage through the Internet on Horie's continually updated
    web page.

    Horie expects to complete the voyage by June.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register