British teen becomes youngest to sail Atlantic alone

0 Comments | AFP, January, 2007

LONDON (AFP) — A 14-year-old British schoolboy has become the youngest person to sail single-handed across the North Atlantic Ocean after a voyage of more than six weeks, his spokesman said. Michael Perham battled shark-infested waters and huge waves since taking three weeks off school and setting out from the tiny British dependent territory of Gibraltar, off southern Spain, on November 18.

"It feels absolutely fantastic being back on dry land, absolutely brilliant," he told BBC television from the Caribbean island of Antigua, where his arrival was greeted by a steel band and a welcoming party of boats. "It was a really fantastic trip. I enjoyed almost every minute of it," he said following the 3,500-nautical-mile voyage using the trade winds that have carried sailors from...