Wave-powered catamaran reaches Japan
Adventurer completes three month, 3,800 mile voyage
Japanese sailor and environmentalist Kenichi Horie has reached Japan after 3,800 nautical miles and three and a half months under wave power. He set off on March 16 this year.
The 69-year-old solo yachtsman and his boat made from recycled materials embarked from Honolulu bound for Japan, arriving at the port of Wakayama just before midnight on the 4th July, thus becoming the first person in history to cross an ocean powered by wave power.
His 9.5m catamaran,Suntory Mermaid II, was equipped with two special fins at the front that move like a dolphin's tail each time the boat rises or falls with the rhythm of the waves.
The theory said that that a vertical motion could drive the boat forward at a speed of three knots. In the event, he averaged 1.5 knots, not the fastest way to travel, but it could spell the dawning of yet another innovative green way of transiting oceans.
'Throughout history, mankind has used wind for power, but no one has appeared to be serious about wave power,' Kenichi Horie said.
See more on his voyage at SailWorld