Spirit of Mystery at the Sydney Boat Show (Photo by Colin Merry)

Well the boat show here in Sydney has got off to a great start!  The weather is sunny and temps. are up into the high teens. With five exhibition halls and a marina full of boats there is plenty to see and drool over.  ”Spirit of Mystery” is being really well received with loads of people coming on board for the tour and story of her voyage.  We are working hard to try and accommodate all who want to see her.

Jessica Watson's Pink Boat (Photo by Colin Merry)

Next door to us is a very pink yacht indeed!  It is a 34′  Sparkman and Stephens.  Sixteen year old  Jessica Watson will be setting off from Sydney in September in her bid to be the youngest solo circumnavigator.  Her route will take her northeast across the equator to Washington Island in the North Pacific, around the notorious Cape Horn,  below South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and up the East coast back home to Sydney.  Jessica hopes to return before her 17th birthday.  I asked her a few questions whilst being shown around on board.

Why?   – The challenge, she has heard the stories and needs to know what it will be like for herself.
Which things are you most looking forward to?    – The milestones, the Horn would be great.
What things are you most dreading?    – The first storm, other than getting that one behind me not anything really.
What will you miss most?    – Friends and family.
How long are you planning for?    – 230 days.
What are you taking with you to remind you of friends and family?    – Pics, mascots, music and a dancing chicken!
What frustrates you most about societies perception of a youngster taking on what you are about to do?      -Not being ready to accept that I can do this. And being classed as a minor on all the forms that have to be signed off.

Colin Merry and Jessica Watson

Jessica came across as a level headed girl who has her sights firmly set on achieving her goal.

Jessica Waston (Photo by Colin Merry)

We at C&A wish her well and will be following her progress.  For more information on Jessica log onto www.jessicawatson.com.au

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Totallymoney (Photo courtesy of Totallymoney.com)

17 year old British sailor Mike Perham set out from Panama tlast night on the final stage of his record attempt to become the youngest solo yachtsman to take on the world. Sailing the Open 50 race yacht  TotallyMoney.com.  Mike set out on this extraordinary odyssey from Gunwharf Quay Portsmouth, England on November 15, 2008 and now expects to make a triumphant return within four weeks.

Mike from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, 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 just fourteen – a record recognised by the Guinness Book of Records.

The Guinness encyclopaedia of record facts and feats is monitoring Mike’s progress once more. Earlier this month, American teenager Zac Sunderland returned to Los Angeles to claim the youngest solo circumnavigation record, but Mike is three and a half months younger and has until mid November to get his name into the record books. Mike Broughton, the British weather guru, who has been advising Perham throughout his record attempt, forecasts a 29 day voyage back to Portsmouth to give the 17 year old more than 2 months to spare.

During Mike’s circumnavigation, which is sponsored by TotallyMoney.com , Vocalink, Skechers Footwear, Mastervolt, Kemp Sails and many other companies, he has overcome everything nature can throw at him including storm force winds and 50ft seas. He has also had to overcome major problems with his yacht’s self-steering system, rudder bearings and electrics. Stopping for repairs added months to the voyage and led to Mike missing the seasonal weather window for rounding Cape Horn. Continued bad weather in the Southern Ocean, which had Totallymoney.com surfing down waves at crazy speeds up to 28knots, eventually forced the teenager to sail much further north than he had intended and sensibly, he re routed his return to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal.

Mike’s daily blogs and videos have been an inspiration to thousands who read and watch them each day. Mixing picturesque sunsets with ferocious seas, he describes with remarkable insight, his encounters with whales and dolphins, – and contrasting rubbish that litter the sea. Mike said today: “I’m finally on the last leg and it feels just great. I only have about 5,000 miles to go, so I am hoping to be home inside four weeks. I really can’t wait, but I won’t push the boat too hard, as I would not want anything to happen that might have been preventable.“

Money raised by Mike during the 28,000-mile voyage is being donated to Save the Children and the Tall Ships Youth Trust.

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Zac Sunderland on Intrepid (Photo courtesy Of ZacSunderland.com)

A 17-year-old Californian, Zac Sunderland piloted his battered sailboat into a Southern California harbour on Thursday to complete a gruelling 13-month voyage and become the youngest person to sail around the world solo.

The teen acknowledged the 27,500-mile voyage wasn’t easy. Pirates off the coast of Indonesia gave him quite a scare.  Zac recalled  the day “had a boat circle in and ended up calling in the coast watch and they chased them off but, yeah,  lucked out there! About an hour and a half of hell.”

Severe storms also were a problem, he said.

Sunderland’s Web site says he bought the boat with his own money. His parents had hoped he would find something that would spark a fire in him, a passion that would direct him away from all the negative and harmful influences that are so prevalent in society, but even they were stunned by the scope of his dreams and desires, it says.

Zac on Intrepid ( Photo courtesy of ZacSunderland.com)

He was 16 when he left Marina del Rey on June 14, 2008, aboard his boat, Intrepid. Solitude and exhaustion were just a couple of factors that faced him each day. “The hardest constantly was the tiredness,” he said. “I mean, you get over the loneliness, but tiredness, it’s an ongoing thing. Half the time I haven’t slept in 48 hours and it’s just hard to get enough rest.”

Sunderland said he made some good contacts along the way. “It’s interesting just thinking back to the different places in the world because I have so many friends in different parts of the world that are like family, you know, and all these different experiences,” he said.

It’s awesome to be back,” Sunderland, of Thousand Oaks, California, said after he was welcomed home by a flotilla of well-wishers.

Fewer than 250 people have sailed solo around the globe, with three times that many scaling the top of Mount Everest, according to the American Sailing Association, which certified Sunderland’s feat.

He left Marina Del Rey, just south of Los Angeles, on June 14, 2008, and celebrated his 17th birthday at sea while off Africa’s Cape of Good Hope.

Zac Up the Mast (Photo courtesy of LA Times Blogs.com)

His return was delayed near the end of his voyage when his single-masted boat sustained a broken bulkhead in rough seas off Mexico, forcing him to stop at Puerto Vallarta long enough for his father, Laurence, to fly in to make repairs.

The oldest of seven children, Sunderland was home-schooled and partly raised on a boat.

Zac Sunderland Aboard Intrepid (Photo Courtesy of Travelblog.bcaa)

He becomes the first person under 18 to circumnavigate the globe by sea alone, and the youngest to date. The previous record-holder was David Dicks of Australia, who completed his voyage in November 1996 at age 18.

Congratulations Zac!  

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