Teenager sets record

PANAMA.

Mike Perham, who passed through the Panama Canal in July, on his boat Totallymoney.comcrossed the finishing line between Lizard Point, the most southerly point in Britain, and Ushant in northern France, in his 50-feet yacht shortly before 10:00 am, escorted by a Royal Navy guard ship.

He took the record away from Zac Sunderland, an American who completed his voyage last month and had made a brief stop in Panama in July

"I've made it, I've made my dream come true and it feels amazing," he said.

His father Peter, who climbed on board after his son had crossed the line for the final two-day sail into Portsmouth, said: "Mike is a very special son, he has done incredibly well”.

Mike hoped to complete the challenge non-stop, but problems with his boat's rudder and other hitches forced him to pull into port three times, meaning his world record is the youngest solo circumnavigation with assistance.

He set sail from England last November and arrived at the Flamenco Marina on the Canal’s Pacific side on July 6.

As he approached Panama, his blog entry read:”this is pretty perfect sailing, there’s hardly any pressure on Totallymoney.com and everything’s running smoothly. the kind of conditions sailors dream of - being able to lounge about and just take a back seat while the boat sales itself in glorious conditions.

“There’s 17 knots on the beam.. gracefully gliding over the water. cruising towards Panama at nine knots even though there’s a two knot current against us.”

While he was in Panama his rival, temporarily collected the world record.