He's done it! See the pictures of Zac Sunderland's arrival
by Nancy Knudsen on 17 Jul 2009
Zac, eldest of six Sunderland children, son of Marianne and Laurence, and 17-years of age, has become the youngest person to sail solo round the world. See the pictures of his arrival by photographer Lisa Gizara - www.gizaraarts.com.
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Zac, who was greeted offshore and escorted in by an armada of well-wishers aboard dozens of sailboats and fancy yachts, cleared the breakwater beneath a clearing sky and stepped ashore in sunshine. Hundreds had gathered to meet the teenager from Thousand Oaks, California.
After departing on a westerly course, Sunderland crossed three oceans, five seas, and the equator twice, covering more than 25,000 miles. He endured a pirate scare, a broken boom, a broken tiller, broken forestay rigging, and a broken bulkhead, and he was almost washed overboard by a rogue wave off Grenada.
Laurence Sunderland, Zac’s father, watched his son mature during his odyssey.
'He left thinking that he knew a lot about life, and the difference now is, he does,’’ he said. 'You look into his eyes; he’s very much a deep thinker now.’’
Some questioned the wisdom of letting a teenager embark on what could be a risky adventure.
'This is our whole life, boating, and Laurence has felt a huge amount of responsibility,’’ Zac’s mother, Marianne Sunderland, said early in the trip. 'Zac has had all the best safety equipment - from satellite phones to his own meteorologists, and everyone to help him. With modern technology there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be successful.’’
A Brit named Mike Perham, who is a few months younger, embarked on a similar quest in November and is expected to complete his solo-circumnavigation, aboard a 50-foot racing yacht, in about three weeks.
For more pictures of the tough teen's arrival, go to Lisa Gizara's website, www.gizaraarts.com
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