Michael Perham, who became the youngest person to cross the Atlantic alone when he was 14, set sail from Portmouth harbor on Saturday, trying to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
He will cover 21,600 nautical miles, crossing every single line of longitude and the equator, in four and a half months, and his only contact with family members back home will be limited to brief satellite conversations. Perham said before setting sail, admitting that the voyage was “a little crazy”
After managing to cross the Atlantic alone, he immediately began planning to break the round-the-world record as well. The current record holder is Australian Jessie Martin, who set the feat aged 18 in 1999.
Perham will sail along the African coast before crossing the Pacific and Southern Oceans via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Cape Leeuwin in Australia, and Cape Horn in South America, according to his website.