Mike Perham, two weeks from the record books

9:10 PM Sun 9 Aug 2009 GMT

Zac Sunderland - .. .

While Zac Sunderland now seems to be on a non-stop speaking tour after the circumnavigation which made him the youngest sailor every to solo circle the world, British teen Mike Perham has cleared the shipping lanes off the coast of the United States which kept him sleepless for many days, and is headed straight for Portsmouth, home and the breaking of Zac's record, being 102 days younger than the Californian sailor.

Mike left England on November 15, 2008, in his 50 ft racing boat intending to sail non-stop and unassisted below both the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.

However, before he had even reached the Canary Islands, problems with his autohelm forced him to stop. The problems with his boat's electrics have continued, but Mike has weathered all, stopping in Capetown and New Zealand, and finally returning via the Panama Canal instead of the more difficult journey around Cape Horn.

He hopes to sail his Open 50 boat TotallyMoney.com into Portsmouth in about two weeks to claim the record. His journey, on a much faster boat, will have taken him under nine months, whereas Zac's journey was a comparatively long 13 months.

Mike first hit the headlines two years ago when he became the youngest person ever to sail across the Atlantic single-handed at the age of 14. When he undertook that journey, his father sailed out of reach behind him, but this time there was not the luxury of help near at hand.

A third teen competitor, 16-year-old Australian Jessica Watson, intends to commence her own solo journey later this year, again trying for the non-stop unassisted record, which is still held by her compatriot, Jesse Martin, who completed his own solo circumnavigation at the age of 18 in 1999.

Jessica Watson on deck - .. . Click Here to view large photo

Until recently, Jessica has been even too young to hold a boat licence, so all her 'solo' practice journeys so far have necessitated another person being on board. She will depart with more experience than Jesse Martin, however, who had never been outside his home port of Port Phillip Bay - Melbourne's home - until he left on his voyage.

by Nancy Knudsen