The Hindu : Front Page : 16-year-old U.S. sailor starts circumnavigation

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Monday, Jun 16, 2008
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16-year-old U.S. sailor starts circumnavigation

— Photo: AP

Zac Sunderland begins his voyage .

LOS ANGELES: A sailor set sail on Saturday for a solo circumnavigation from Marina del Rey in Southern California.

Zac Sunderland (16) had planned to leave earlier but delayed his departure to replace the auxiliary engine on his Islander 36.

After the transmission’s-oil seal failed, he decided to replace the engine on his 36-foot sloop.

Sunderland wrote in his blog that the delay was a “huge disappointment in some ways,” but ultimately turned out for the best.

Sunderland, who grew up sailing with his parents, hopes to set a world record as the youngest solo circumnavigator. He expected his trip to take about 18 months.

From the West Coast, he plans to cross the Pacific to the Marshall Islands and then continue west, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, crossing the Atlantic and, eventually transiting the Panama Canal back into the Pacific.

Inspiration

Sunderland, who plans to keep up with his school work while at sea, was in part inspired by Robin Lee Graham’s 1974 book “Dove.” Graham left Los Angeles on a 24-foot boat when he was just 15 and circled the globe, though not alone. — Xinhua

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