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Let's All Just Give Up Now: Spunky 16-year-old Set to Break Solo Sailboat Circumnavigation Record

Do you ever feel like you need to do more with your life? Do you yearn to tap into your deepest reserves of inspiration and soar to great heights, taking huge risks and making accomplishments that earn you the love and admiration of people around the world? If so, you should probably get over it. Whatever you were going to do, it's already being done by someone faster, smarter, and younger than you. Case in point: 16-year-old Zac Sunderland, who is on course to become the youngest person ever to circumnavigate the earth solo in a sailboat. A nifty LA Times story introduces us to the high-achieving skipper, who is near the halfway point of his journey in a 36-foot boat called the Intrepid. He has already traveled 12,000 miles and gone through every nautical problem short of sinking, including a recent close call with a group of pirates off the coast of Indonesia. A large wooden vessel flying no flags or markings was clearly on course to intercept him, prompting him to call his family in Thousand Oaks, California for advice. His dad's suggestion: load the .357 and shoot to kill. Fortunately for everybody involved, the pirates turned away at the last minute, and a relieved Sunderland continued on toward Mauritius. If all goes according to plan, he'll break the record in another five months or so at the age of 17 when he returns to his home port of Marina del Rey. As for the rest of us, let's congratulate Zac on the impressive feat, secure in the knowledge that we could do it too, if we felt like it.

[Photo: LA Times]

Related Stories:
· Zac Sunderland, Solo Teen Sailor, Discovers Perils of the High Seas [LA Times]
· Zac Sunderland [Official Site]
· Sailing Coverage [Jaunted]