Record-Breaking Sailing
In 2007, British 14-year-old Mike Perham became the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic. On Thursday 27th of August 2009, he crossed the finishing line between Lizard Point and Ushant to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world solo with assistance – at just 17 years of age. The journey took him 9 months, starting at Portsmouth on the 15th of November 2008 and covering 30,000 miles of water. When asked about his future plans, Perham declared that he’s planning to go “bigger and better”, including adventures that are “not necessarily on the water”.
Perham was a mere 2 months younger than previous record-holder Zac Sunderland of the USA, who completed his journey just a month before Perham. However, the very same week that Perham completed his journey, Dutch 13-year-old Laura Dekker was put under the supervision of child protection officers because of her plans to also sail solo around the world. Although her parents approved of her plans to leave school and spend 2 years on the open sea, judges ruled that the plans were “irresponsible” and social workers agreed that Dekker was too young to fully understand the dangers of the journey she was planning to undertake. Psychologists also added that two years of isolation aboard her boat would be likely to damage her development. Despite sailing from Holland to Britain in May 2009, police and social workers in Lowestoft declared the return journey to be too dangerous and placed Dekker in foster care until her parents came to collect her.
When asked his opinion about Laura Dekker’s situation, Perham said it wasn’t his place to say whether she should be allowed to go, but urged people to judge Dekker on her abilities rather than her age; reminding the world that he crossed the Atlantic at the age of 14 “…and people thought I couldn’t do that.” He declared that Dekker “isn’t average…she’s an accomplished sailor already and has a lot of sailing experience”. Dekker’s father, Dick, who sailed across the North Sea from Ijmuiden harbour at the age of 12, also claims his daughter is experienced enough for the voyage; pointed out that she was born at sea and had her first boat when aged just 6!
Amid claims that Dutch society is becoming a “nanny state”, these two brave men have a point; perhaps we do underestimate ourselves and other people for the sake of security. Although it would be inadvisable for somebody with no experience of sailing to try to cross the channel, simply starting to learn to sail is known to be a rewarding experience on its own. Mike Perham said of his record-breaking voyage; “Hopefully this will be an inspiration to other people and lots of other kids can go out on the water” and learn to sail.
