Mike Perham: Too Young
On 15th November 2008, at the age of sixteen, Mike Perham left Portsmouth, England, on a solo non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Mike is already the youngest person to have sailed alone across the Atlantic, which he did at the age of fourteen. But sixteen is too young an age to sail non-stop around the world, especially in an Open 50 racing yacht built in 1996.
Mike's father, Peter, commented: "It will be an amazing achievement. I couldn't have done what he is doing at his age." It would indeed be an amazing achievement. Mike himself says: "It's just the feeling of being completely in control, relaxed and at one with nature." But no-one, let alone a boy-sailor, is ever completely in control in the Southern Ocean, nor can they be too relaxed in one of the most dangerous and remote places on earth.
Gear failure in the Roaring Forties
Perhaps the greatest risk is gear failure. Non-stop round-the-world yachtsmen and women usually have to undertake running repairs in massive seas, and it's here that the mental resources of a sixteen or seventeen-year old would be stretched the most. Already, Mike's autopilot has failed and he's had to stop in the Canary islands while the manufacturer tries to fix the problem. The high performance type of boat he's sailing is a far cry from the easy going tub in which Robin Knox Johnston completed the first non-stop circumnavigation. Things are going to break, and Mike will have to fix them, up the mast in the night maybe, in a storm with thirty foot waves, amongst icebergs, with three hours sleep in the past 48 hours, 1000 miles from anywhere.
These challenges, of course, are also faced by the most experienced and highly-funded round-the-world-solo sailors. The danger is always there. It's partly why they do it, and why others don't. But at sixteen, one cannot fully imagine the consequences of one's actions. It's just too young to be faced with life-or-death decisions. And at that age, human beings are not yet fully developed, with the savoir faire that it takes to survive the very worst.
The difficulties involved are illustrated by the fact that twelve out of the original thirty entrants in the 2008/2009 Vendée Globe single-handed non-stop round-the-world yacht race, sailed in Open 60 racing yachts, have already retired before halfway, due to gear failure or injury.
Youngest single handed circumnavigation
As it happens, the delay caused by the faulty autopilot has resulted in Mike (inset) revising his objective from becoming 'the youngest person to sail non-stop around the world single handed' to 'the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe single handed' which means he can interrupt his journey, with a chance to put into port if his boat requires further attention. This is much safer but would still be a great achievement.
It puts him in direct competition with a seventeen year-old Californian, Zac Sunderland, who is already en-route and planning to complete his solo voyage by April 2009. Mike Perham is a few months younger, so he has plenty of leeway. Besides, Zac is on an adventure of learning and personal growth rather than the accomplishment of a feat, so he may not be in too much of a hurry. Just for the record, the 'youngest world circumnavigator' is currently an Australian, David Dicks, at age seventeen when he set sail in 1996, returning nine months later. But the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, non-stop, and unassisted, is Jesse Martin, another Australian, at age eighteen when he completed his journey in 1999, taking 328 days.
Read more about Mike Perham's World Challenge on his sponsor's website. He's also hoping to raise £24,000 for Save the Children and the Tall Ships Youth Trust.
Great! He's sailing again.
Mike has recently decided to sail home from the Southern Ocean via the Panama Canal rather than the more usual Cape Horn. A wise decision in my opinion, but it means his circumnavigation will fall short of the real thing as most people think of it. Technically, circumnavigation means crossing every meridian of longitude and the equator, then returning to the starting point, but rounding Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America is regarded as one of the challenges that define sailing round the world.
Sailing round the world by any route is of course an extraordinary achievement for anyone, let alone a teenager, and had it not been for delays due to gear failure – which would have put him at Cape Horn at the wrong time of year – Mike Perham would doubtless be pursuing his originally intended and more dangerous path.
Zac Sunderland also circumnavigated via the Panama Canal route.
He did it! Despite all the ups and downs and technical problems that he has had to face he battled on and achieved his goal.
What a tremendous young man he is.
Next up for the teen-circumnavigator challenge: Jessica Watson, whose blog title includes the words "youngest ever to sail around the world" (a bit premature).
Well, I watched the documentary this evening. He's cool. He knows how to hold it together and come out laughing. Great stuff. Hats off to an outstanding young Briton.