ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609160061
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO AP. SUBARU
DATELINE: TIBURON, CALIF.
SOURCE: Associated Press
SUBARU TAKAHASHI, a 14-year-old Japanese boy, is the youngest to sail alone from Japan to San Francisco Bay.
A 14-year-old Japanese boy who was thought to be lost on a solo voyage across the Pacific was spotted alive Friday after he sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge to finish the 4,600-mile trip.
Subaru Takahashi, who had not been heard from since Aug. 16 and was all but given up for dead by the media in Japan, made it into San Francisco Bay before his mainsail jammed and he was forced to drop anchor.
He waved his hands and got the attention of a Canadian man on a small sailboat, who radioed the U.S. Coast Guard, which towed in the 30-foot yacht. He was greeted at the dock by his parents, a swarm of Japanese reporters and enough champagne for everybody.
``From two days ago, I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't sleep,'' the junior high school student said in Japanese.
Takahashi is believed to be the youngest person to sail the Pacific alone. But he said his biggest goals are still ahead of him.
``This is not good enough,'' he said. ``My dream is to travel around the world. This is my first step to accomplish this dream.''
He had last been heard from when he gave his location 2,790 miles west of San Francisco. His motor had quit, and then his battery, meaning he had to sail the rest of his journey without his radio or the autopilot to help him steer.
His parents had not given up hope, though, because he was not due to arrive until Saturday, 50 days after his departure.
Even before the teen left, his father, Hiroo Takahashi, acknowledged he was worried, comparing his son's quest to the transcontinental flight of 7-year-old Jessica Dubroff, who died with her father and instructor in an April 11 crash.
The elder Takahashi added that he had confidence in his son's abilities even though the boy didn't start seriously practicing until this March. Takahashi began canoeing at age 5 and crossed the 19-mile Sado Strait in the Sea of Japan by canoe when he was 9.
To prepare for his Pacific trip, Takahashi spent 500 hours of intensive training with yachting experts.
Before Takahashi's feat, the youngest person known to have crossed the Pacific alone was a Japanese man, Kenichi Horie, who achieved the feat on a 19-foot yacht in 1962 at age 23.
The fastest solo voyage from Japan to San Francisco was set last month by Steve Fossett of Chicago, who made the trip in 20 days on a 60-foot three-hulled boat.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB