16-year-old Jessica Watson is the youngest sailor who voyaged around the globe without any assistance.
Jessica Watson’s journey on her pink boat lasted 210 days, during this time she traveled 23000 nautical miles. She left Sydney on Oct. 18, 2009, crossed the Pacific Ocean, then the equator, she rounded the Cape Horn (the most southerly point of South America), swam across the Atlantic Ocean to South Africa and then swam across the Indian Ocean and along the southern coast of Australia. Earlier, the youngest participant of around the world was considered a 17-year-old Briton Mike Perham. Meanwhile, the record in a single nonstop solo circumnavigation belonged to Australian Jesse Martin, who made the voyage at the age of 18 in 1999. The Watson’s voyage, however, will not be recognized officially as a record in any case in order to discourage ambitious parents pushing younger children off to sea.
