There seems to be a natural attraction when it comes to yachts, teenagers, and worldwide journeys! Recently, a British boy by the name of Mike Perham who is just 17 years old officially became the youngest individual to accomplish the task of sailing alone around the entire world!
This amazing feat was accomplished in a mere nine months! This trip was conducted on a yacht that is 15 meters in length. While actually a yacht that is designed for racing adventures, this boat was sufficient for living and making the amazing trip. The yacht’s name is “Totallymoney.Com” as this was the sponsor of the world trip. While this teen is rejoicing over his amazing journey, there is another teen in the world experiencing many complications as a result of her desire to take her yacht around the world. Her name is Laura Dekker. She is a 13 year old Dutch girl fighting against an immense amount of opposition in order to fulfill her dream of being the youngest girl to sail around the world.
Laura Dekker started life by being born on a yacht while her parents were on a trip sailing the world. All of her life, she has been taught in the way of the sea. She knows and understands how to operate a yacht, how to sail, and even acquired ownership of her first yacht at the age of six! Now the protective services of Dutch children is pushing for the courts to strip the parental rights of Laura’s parents, and are denying the child’s dreams of taking her water vessel around the world in a solo manner.
However, despite the fact that Mike Perham was not quite eighteen, his dreams were far from squashed by local authorities. As a matter of fact, a spokesperson for the popular Guinness World Records has stated that there is some verification involved in confirming Mike’s claims, but once that has been accomplished, he will be the youngest ever sailor to “circumnavigate the globe solo and unsupported”. Even for the adults in the world, this is an amazing feat to accomplish – especially while living on a racing yacht!
This young man faced many obstacles on his trip around the world. He had to sail through weather that was considered to be highly challenging, experienced failures with the autopilot feature that was built in to his yacht, and even had difficulties with the rudders on the boat. This resulted in his having to stop and repair the water vessel quite a bit. While on his trip, and in the midst of the vast Indian Ocean, he celebrated his eighteenth birthday – which was a special occasion considering what he was doing. While on his journey, he was able to meet the oldest individual to complete a journey around the world – Minoru Saito. This was a very special event for the yachtsman. He also got to meet a man by the name of Zac Sunderland. In July, Zac received the honours for being the youngest daredevil to sail the world – only his trip took thirteen months.
All the while, numerous individuals tracked his progress in an online blog which highlighted his numerous adventures. Mike is known for his solo journey across the Atlantic Ocean at the mere age of fourteen in a yacht. Despite the fact that he has just made a major accomplishment, he is looking forward to continuing on with bigger and more exciting adventures in his cherished yacht!
And now let’s see two short videos: Mike Perham vs oceans
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Related links:
Mike Perham at Totallymoney.com (general sponsor of Mike’s journey)
Foto: Frantzesco Kangaris