Zac Sunderland, 16, to Sail Solo Around the World

around the world, sailboat, sailing, voyage, zac sunderland

14 Jun, 2008 by New York Herald in Uncategorized

Its not everyday someone embarks on a sailing trip around the world. Sixteen year old Zac Sunderland of Marina del Rey, is poised to not only join that elusive club of so-called “rounders”, but also to break its age record. He hopes to complete this monumental journey by the time he turns 18.

Zac Sunderland, lanky, boyishly handsome, is a little nervous about the isolation – his first leg is expected to take 4 weeks. There’s also of course boat crushing storms, pirates, and well, a 36 foot single-mast sailboat that’s about twice as old as he is. Thirty six feet for an around the globe sail trip is akin to driving a Mini Cooper through the badlands.

The record he wants to break belongs to one David Dicks, an Austrailian who was 17 at the time and returned nine months later when he was 18 years, 41 days old. Leaving port at sixteen gives him a considerable leg up on this record. By Nov. 29th, his 17th birthday, Zack Sunderland hopes to already be breezing through the Indian Ocean.

“I know this is dangerous,” he said. “But life is dangerous.”  Who ever said youth was wasted on the young?