109 days after departing from Hawaii on the world’s longest voyage in a wave-powered boat, 69-year-old Japanese sailor Kenichi Horie arrived in Japan.Sailing the wave-powered Suntory Mermaid II, the 6,400-kilometer (nearly 4,000 mi) journey, took 5 to 6 weeks longer than originally planned. Taking in to account this trip can ordinarily be completed by a diesel-powered boat in about 10 days - it's no speedboat.
The Suntory Mermaid II is a 9.5 meter (31 ft) long x 3.5 meter (11 ft) wide, 3-ton vessel made of recycled aluminum, does not use an engine for propulsion. Instead, it relies on a pair of fins under the bow that move up and down as the waves come in, propelling the boat forward.
