Teen Solos - Where are they now?

10:39 PM Mon 5 Jan 2009 GMT

'Michael Perham position' .

While you're sailing away the lazy days of summer in the Antipodes, or toasting chestnuts round the fire in the Northern Hemisphere, there are two teenagers - one sixteen, the other just turned seventeen - who are having the adventure of their lives, sailing the world solo.

British teen Michael Perham, who set out to sail around the world solo non-stop and unassisted, has now changed his goal. Solo it will be, unassisted, maybe, and non-stop maybe. That's how he expresses it these days, after a misbehaving autopilot on his 50 foot open racing boat Totallymoney.com, supplied by sponsorship, caused him to put into the Canary Islands soon after his departure from England. (To be non-stop unassisted it would now have to be from the Canaries back to the Canaries)

He's cruising south now, approaching the Doldrums, with the weather getting hotter and hotter every day. The autopilot has

Michael at the wheel - photo by Julien Girardot DPPI - .. .

still been causing some angst, but seems to be supporting him enough to allow some sleep. Zooming down the Atlantic parallel to the west African coast, he's reporting great conditions, with flying fish all round the deck each morning.

Zac Sunderland position - .. .

Not far away (globally speaking) in Cape Town, 17 year old Zac Sunderland is about two-thirds of his way around the world, but he's doing it the 'lazy' way, calling in to ports here and there to soak up the atmosphere, recovering himself physically, and doing repairs to his 36 ft Islander Intrepid, purchased with his own savings. He's

Zac off Durban - .. .

about to set off to cross the Atlantic in a north westerly direction, calling in at the remote St Helena and then at Trinidad(in time for Carnival?) before heading for the Panama Canal.

If he gets away any time soon, their paths could cross!

Zac, in a leisurely fashion, would like to be the youngest solo sailor around the world, but there's no question of non-stop or unassisted. So, with Michael Perham dropping the 'non-stop' and 'unassisted' descriptions from his language, the goals of the two teens are getting closer and closer.

If you'd like to know more, Zac is exactly 108 days older than Michael, so he must reach California more than 108 days before Michael. The story holds great resemblance to that of the tortoise and the hare, but this hare could still easily get there first.

Watch this space for a few months!

For the enthusiastic, both the boys have websites, which you can visit by clicking Michaeland Zac

by Nancy Knudsen

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