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Young sailor aged 16 starts record attempt world voyage

news.bbc.co.uk — A teenage student attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world has admitted he is "a little crazy" to do it at his age. Michael Perham, 16, from Potters Bar in Hertfordshire is the youngest person to have sailed across the Atlantic alone.

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  • jgopp, on 11/15/2008, -9/+23I hope he makes it, but it is so freaking dangerous to do this. The possibility of hitting a huge storm or getting thrown overboard with no one in the boat to come back for you makes this a ridiculously stupid move. I want to sail around the world but doing it alone is ignorant if you think nothing bad is going to happen to you.
    • HenvY, on 11/16/2008, -3/+7Um, *****. Many people have solo circumnavigated the world.
      • arkboysooner, on 11/16/2008, -1/+4Why do you feel the need to um at the start of your reply?
    • Tenlow, on 11/16/2008, -0/+3Yeah, it's actually far more common than you might think.
  • digtastico, on 11/15/2008, -14/+6Wow, brave person! feel free to digg back at me anytime matey
    • blake_mooney, on 11/16/2008, -9/+4"Wow, stupid person! feel free to digg back at me anytime matey"

      Fixed.
  • trioman, on 11/15/2008, -4/+4Amazing what people will be willing to do...I wish I as as adventurous
    • Stroggoth, on 11/16/2008, -2/+2FTA: "It's just the feeling of being completely in control, relaxed and at one with nature. "

      (1) Nature is in control, not you. The sea is a dangerous place.
      (2) You aren't at one with nature, you are clinging to life on a wooden boat. Being at one with nature would be at the bottom of the ocean.

      These two misconceptions show that he isn't adventerous so much as ill-informed.
    • immatellyouwhat, on 11/16/2008, -0/+1You know you had 5 minutes to fix your comment, instead you tripped me out by saying " as as adventurous "
      but dugg you anyway for wishing
  • brandita, on 11/16/2008, -2/+30Watch out for pirates.
  • blake_mooney, on 11/16/2008, -9/+3Annnnd where the ***** are the parents...? Good god, what an idiot.
    • Royish, on 11/16/2008, -0/+6They are buying him yachts and linking up with him via satellite.
    • dafragsta, on 11/16/2008, -1/+3It's a *****' solo. It's not a *****' two-person-o.

      Get of the stage Kage, you conceited *****' prick! You had them and then you lost them with the spanish guitar thing!

      /loves the D too much.
  • RadiatedAnt, on 11/16/2008, -3/+16hope he has enough caviar to last him the 4 months while he's calling satellite porn
  • TheSystemIsDown, on 11/16/2008, -10/+3What about his education?
    • BrandonCrispy, on 11/16/2008, -1/+8"His adventure does not get him out of school work either.

      He is taking assignments with him as part of his BTEC National Diploma in Sport (Performance and Excellence) at Oaklands College in St Albans, Hertfordshire."

      READ BETTER DAWG
  • DeusNova, on 11/16/2008, -2/+9I wish my parents bought me a yacht for my sixteenth birthday! =( But seriously, good luck to him!
  • StolenLamp, on 11/16/2008, -1/+6That's probably be really fun.
    • StolenLamp, on 11/16/2008, -0/+2Wow, sorry that was a ***** sentence...

      *That would probably be fun.*
  • damian7, on 11/16/2008, -16/+11…………….._,,-~’’’¯¯¯’’~-,,…………………………………………
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  • sockpuppets, on 11/16/2008, -13/+23…………….._,,-~’’’¯¯¯’’~-,,…………………………………………
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    • damian7, on 11/16/2008, -1/+6Epic double posting of almost same comment and body-less Pedobear
      • sockpuppets, on 11/16/2008, -1/+6I have met my doppelganger. You complete me.
    • adith, on 11/16/2008, -1/+6Yours is a better use of the pun. Dugg.
    • DirtyVicar, on 11/16/2008, -3/+3Should be "seman" for a more ambiguous Freudian slip.
      • sockpuppets, on 11/16/2008, -1/+5That was the joke already, Dr buzzkill.
  • AModernBird, on 11/16/2008, -1/+3What kind of boat is he on? I know it's a sailboat, but which class? Jus' wonderin'.
  • sablowsky, on 11/16/2008, -1/+2Teenage Desmond?
  • siobhankeogh, on 11/16/2008, -2/+11Thanks for letting me know he was young, I wouldn't have deduced that from the "aged 16" part.
  • NomadRip, on 11/16/2008, -1/+8I wonder if he's younger than Zac Sunderland, who is more than halfway around the world in his boat, and is 16. http://www.zacsunderland.com/blog/
    • Teuobk, on 11/16/2008, -0/+2This guy (Michael) is about four months younger than Zac.
  • PapaBier, on 11/16/2008, -2/+6Zac Sunderland, a 16-year-old American began his voyage June 14th.

    http://www.zacsunderland.com
  • deadapostle, on 11/16/2008, -4/+25My favorite line was from his mother, "He's just such an inspiration for other young people."

    Yes. He will inspire kids across the world to beg their parents for a half-million dollar yacht.
  • asgardshill, on 11/16/2008, -3/+7For the negative nancys here calling the kid an idiot, you can't seriously believe that his vessel WON'T have every safety device and gimcrack that can be shoehorned into a hull that small, can you? With GPS, EPIRB and satellite technology, he's arguably safer attempting a solo circumnavigation of the world than he would be walking around in any large US city.

    Yes, what he is doing is not risk-free. The sea is a harsh taskmaster. But he's soloed the Atlantic Ocean already, which stands him in good stead and gives him the experience he needs to complete the feat.

    In spite of the tone of some of the posts here, its nice to see that the spirit of adventure hasn't been bred completely out of the human race yet. Bravo, young man - you go for it and make a few of these nitwits eat their words.
  • Thorthewhore, on 11/16/2008, -8/+4Kids doing the whole "Look at me Im the best at this!" thing kind of comes off as selfish to me.
    • OGTL, on 11/16/2008, -0/+4RTFA. The proceeds from the trip will be donated to charity.
  • Royish, on 11/16/2008, -6/+4A yacht with satellite link ups to talk to his parents?
    I am glad I read the article before I wrote something that even remotely sounded impressed.
  • MattyLite, on 11/16/2008, -1/+3That's pretty awesome. I wish I had an adventure.
  • fxu1989, on 11/16/2008, -1/+5Good luck to him.

    I'll be praying to Poseidon.
  • aznpwnzor, on 11/16/2008, -6/+2what about....school?
    how do they claim homeschooling?
  • ufoninja, on 11/16/2008, -3/+7the australian navy will be rescuing this little rich kid in the pacific ocean soon enough.
  • titaniumten, on 11/16/2008, -1/+6While he was gone all his friends were home...getting laid.
  • YouAreDead, on 11/16/2008, -2/+2he's not little crazy
    he's completely crazy
  • Duffle, on 11/16/2008, -2/+1The kid has his own yacht? ***** I'm 15 and my parents won't even spring for a Laser.
  • jameen, on 11/16/2008, -2/+0little crazy
  • dainfagerholm, on 11/16/2008, -3/+1AND THIS JUST IN...16 year old sailor drowns attempting world voyage.
  • awesometastic1, on 11/16/2008, -0/+7The thing i don't understand is about 20 or 30 years ago a 16 year old sailed around the world by himself on his sail boat. It was written up in the Readers Digest back in the day and about 10 years ago i read an update from them on one of those "where are they now" type of things. So, why didn't that kids journey count? I know he stopped at a couple ports along the way to pick up supplies and stuff, which may be why it doesn't count, but seriously this article doesn't even mention that kid. Poor journalism.
  • fuzzy889, on 11/16/2008, -9/+3I hope he ***** dies
  • pyabo, on 11/16/2008, -0/+10Robin Lee Graham did this at age 16 in 1965, in a 21 foot sailboat. Well before the advent of GPS or satellite uplinks in the case of emergencies.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Lee_Graham
    • elf25, on 11/16/2008, -0/+2HEY! That's what I was gonna say... I'll add that his father made a self steering mechanism that kept the boat on course. They were REALLY leading edge and risking. Read the book. It's pretty darn good.

      Still, I wish the boy luck and good sailing, it's certainly an adventure of a lifetime.
  • TetchyTony, on 11/16/2008, -1/+8Spoiled rich kid - and he has the gall to say he's doing it for 'charity'. So he's suckered 'sponsors' too? Hope his family have bought insurance for every single expense every public authority will incur for tracking, safety, and possible rescue.
  • immatellyouwhat, on 11/16/2008, -1/+3He's from the Shire and about to go on an adventure....hmmmmmmmmmm
  • elliotys, on 11/16/2008, -1/+1AAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
  • xanga2000, on 11/16/2008, -2/+0i will do it if i take a hot chic with me
  • uronlykyur, on 11/16/2008, -1/+0ha. enjoy the..hmm gale force winds? 30 foot waves? perhaps...piss-your-pants storms? not too smart there, turbo
  • JoeVet, on 11/16/2008, -3/+2You can get a 1999 Open 50 Racing Yacht used for $220,000. They come with autopilot so idiots like this don't really have to sail. This should be a story of the idle rich and their useless offspring. I'm so glad the GOP wants to give these waste of space a big tax break. This is so helping our economic crisis.
    • carlingford, on 11/16/2008, -0/+0Joevet sounds pretty macho as a name,if have ever been at sea
      in a force 12 gale you would know no autopilot, as you call it,would be very much help.I am unclear what the GOP is and why it is giving a boy in England a taxbreak.Why a sixteen
      year old could help with your economic crisis is baffling
  • bbagi, on 11/17/2008, -0/+1http://www.bluemoment.com/dove.html
  •  

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