Zac Sunderland

Zac Sunderland (b. November 29, 1991) is a Southern Californian 16-year-old teen attempting to break "the youngest person to sail solo around the world record" currently held by Australian David Dicks. With $6000, all of his savings, he bought a 36' Islander and with the assistance of his shipwright father retrofitted it for the circumnavigation trip.cite web |url=http://www.rimajol.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=9670&sid=77a805936d36050208159d29577cc299 |title=RiMajolOnline Represents the People of the Marshall Islands :: View topic - American Solo Teen Sailor Expected In Majuro Today |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-08-30] cite web |url=http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/08/03/american-teen-zac-sunderland-makes-it-to-majuro-on-solo-voyage |title=Pacific Magazine: American Teen Zac Sunderland Makes It To Majuro On Solo Voyage |format= |work= |accessdate=2008-08-30]

On June 14, 2008 Sunderland, of Thousand Oaks, California, set sail from Marina Del Rey in his 36-foot long sailboat "Intrepid" to circumnavigate the globe. Inspired by Robin Lee Graham's "Dove" (1974), The teenager plans to complete his solo voyage and return to California in April of 2009. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/06/27/transcript.mon/ CNN's Nicole Lapin interview with Zac Sunderlang, TSN] ] [ [http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=220321&Sn=WORL&IssueID=31087 gulf-daily-news.com, US teenager to sail around the world alone] ] [ [http://www.thelog.com/news/logNewsArticle.aspx?x=7565 thelog.com, Zac Sunderland Starts Solo Round-the-world Cruise] ]

The intent is to cross the Pacific to his first port of call, the Marshall Islands, then head west to Papua New Guinea, then Australia, the Indian Ocean, Mauritius and Madagascar, rounding the Cape of Good Hope, sailing across the Atlantic and finally, transiting the Panama Canal / Galapagos Islands back to the Pacific and home. If successfully, Ventura, California native Sunderland, will be the youngest American sailor since 1965 to complete a solo global circumnavigation (In the late 1960's 16 year-old Robin Lee Graham left Los Angeles, California but did not complete the voyage until 1970, at the age of 20). With over 15,000 sea hours record, Zac desired to emulate his other hero and friend, Aussie Jesse Martin, who completed his own circumnavigation at age 18. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7454345.stm news.bbc.co.uk, US teen sailor takes on the world] ] [ [http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/15/content_8372323.htm xinhuanet.com, Sixteen-year-old U.S. sailor starts circumnavigation] ]

Zac has planned a maximum of 18 months for this voyage, and he will study on board to finish high school education during the 40,000 miles journey. David Dicks, on the other hand, sailed in February, 1996, at the age of 17, from Fremantle, Western Australia and allegedly finished the circumnavigation in 9 months, finishing his voyage in 1996, aged 18 years and 41 days. For Zac to return as the youngest person ever to circumnavigate, he must complete his trip by January 2010. Sunderland, who packed 4 weeks of fresh, canned, and freeze-dried food as supplies for the first leg of his voyage said, "I have all my books with me. I have one more year to finish at high school and I have to send back my tests (via e-mail) to my mum. She's going to grade them and make sure I am doing well." He would like to write a book and record videos or documentary on his 40,000 miles voyage one his trip is completed. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/columnists/la-me-martinez23-2008jun23,0,798112.column latimes.com/news, A Columbus of our dreams] ] [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/aussies-record-under-threat/2008/06/16/1213468269392.html www.smh.com.au, Aussie sailor's record under threat] ] The oldest of Marianne and Laurence Sunderland's 7 children, Zac is a lifelong sailor whose first home was a 17-metre Tradewind sailboat. Sunderland and his family had sailing adventures in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Mexico. His father bought a 51' Aleutian, and their family made a 3 year cruise of the Channel Islands, Baja California and mainland Mexico. [ [http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2008/06/06/ypwr.zac.sunderland.cnn cnn.com/video, the CNN.com Live interview] ] [ [http://ypwr.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/03/zac-sunderland/ ypwr.blogs.cnn.com, Zac Sunderland] ]

The young Sunderland’s voyage began June 14 in Marina del Rey. His Islander 36 "Intrepid" featured the Produce for Kids (his sponsor), Shuman’s RealSweet and Mastronardi’s Sunset Produce logos, intending to promote healthy eating and produce consumption, particularly among kids. [ [http://thepacker.com/icms/_dtaa2/content/wrapper.asp?alink=2008-153359-285.asp&stype=topnews&fb= thepacker.com/icms, 16-year-old sailing the world, promoting produce] ] On June 20, 2008, Zac was off the Mexican Coast towards what was initially planned to be his first stop, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (due, 4 weeks), planning 15 to 30 stops around the world: "I've been feeling anxious about the situation and about the boat. I'm tired and I'm tired of rocking around going nowhere. The weather should go back to normal by the end of the week but that seems unbearable at the moment!" Due to some minor work needed to be done on the boat, and the desire to reprovision, he elected to re-route and set a heading for Hawaii. On July 11, Zac made his first stop at Ala Wai Boat Harbor, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu, off Diamond Head. [ [http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Zac-Sunderland-stops-in-Hawaii-on-circumnavigation/46400 sail-world.com, Zac Sunderland stops in Hawaii on circumnavigation] ] He intends to head towards the Marshall Islands (about 2,500 miles), on July 16 2008. He began his journey with more than 15,000 hours of sailing experience. [ [http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=8663381 khnl.com, Teenager attempting world record sails into Honolulu] ]

On August 4, 2008, Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing (a sailor in his youth), formally welcomed and congratulated Zac in the President's Office, on , also welcomed Sunderland to Majuro U.S. Embassy: “I gave him a rundown of my trip so far and he talked about Majuro. His favorite thing is the great snorkeling.” [ [http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/08/08/zac-sunderland-meets-us-ambasador-readies-to-sail-to-australia pacificmagazine.net/news, Zac Sunderland Meets US Ambasador, Readies To Sail To Australia] ]

ailing Route

*Marina Del Rey, California
*Wakiki, Hawaii (unplanned stop)
*Majuro, Marshall Islands
*Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (unplanned stop)
* Darwin, Australia
* Cocos-Keeling Islands, Territory of Australia
*Mauritius
*Durban, South Africa
*Cape Town, South Africa
*St. Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
*Port of Spain, Trinidad
* Colón, Panama
*Marina Del Rey, California

ee also

*Circumnavigation
*David Dicks
*Islander 36

References

External Links

* [http://www.zacsunderland.com/ ZAC SUNDERLAND.]
* [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/07/01/zacs_route2.jpgzacs_route2]