24-year-old becomes youngest Japanese citizen to circumnavigate world by yacht

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) — A 24-year-old circumnavigated the globe by yacht, breaking a 30-year record for the youngest Japanese person to achieve the feat, local media reported on Sunday.

Hirotsugu Kimura, a former member of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, completed the solo round-the-world yacht voyage on Saturday as he reached his goal off Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan, after 231 days, Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.

The challenge to complete the trip without port calls and resupplying was his second attempt after another in 2022 was marred by technical failure.

"I felt it was important to follow through, even though it may not be perfect and things may go wrong," Kimura was quoted as saying.

Marine adventurer Kojiro Shiraishi had set the previous record in 1994 at the age of 26 years and 10 months. Shiraishi at the time was also the youngest person in the world to circumnavigate the globe by yacht.

Kimura departed from Nishinomiya in Hyogo Prefecture on Oct. 22 and headed south in the Pacific, rounding Cape Horn in Chile and skirting the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and Australia before returning to Japan.