Zac Sunderland

Bio

Zac Sunderland (born November 29, 1991) is the youngest person to sail solo around the world, and the first person ever to accomplish this feat before their 18th birthday. Zac completed his trip, after 13 months and 2 days at sea, on July 16, 2009 at age 17, when he sailed back in to his port of origin, Marina del Rey, California. The record was previously held by Australian David Dicks. Sunderland is also the youngest American sailor since 1965 to complete a solo global circumnavigation. (In the late 1960s 16 year-old Robin Lee Graham left Los Angeles, California but did not complete the voyage until 1970, at the age of 20.)

Early life
The oldest of Marianne and Laurence Sunderland's seven children, Sunderland's first home was a 17 metres (56 ft) Tradewind sailboat. His family sailed in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Mexico. His shipwright father bought a 51 feet (16 m) Aleutian, and the family made a three-year cruise of California's Channel Islands, Baja California and mainland Mexico.

Voyage
When Sunderland decided to attempt the circumnavigation, he purchased a 36 feet (11 m) Islander for $6,000, using all of his savings. With the assistance of his father, he retrofitted the yacht for the trip. Sunderland planned to complete his voyage in April 2008 with a maximum time of 18 months. He continued his schooling while on his trip, saying, "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 mom. She's going to grade them and make sure I am doing well."
Sunderland departed from Marina del Rey on June 14, 2008. The Intrepid featured the logos of Shuman’s RealSweet, Mastronardi’s Sunset Produce, and his sponsor Produce for Kids, promoting healthy eating and produce consumption for children
Sunderland crossed the Pacific to his first port of call, the Marshall Islands, then headed 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.
Sunderland initially planned to make 15 to 30 stops around the world, the first of which was planned to be Marshall Islands, Micronesia. 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 Emerald Bay, Catalina Island before heading on to Ala Wai Boat Harbor, Waikiki, Honolulu, Oahu, off Diamond Head. He left Hawaii headed towards the Marshall Islands (about 2,500 miles), on July 16 2008.
On August 4, 2008, Marshall Islands President Litokwa Tomeing (a sailor in his youth) formally welcomed and congratulated Sunderland in the President's Office on Majuro: "And how is your boat? I remember one time I went with my parents on a 26- or 27-foot canoe and we sailed from Wotje to Arno." The U.S. Ambassador to the Marshall Islands, Clyde Bishop, also welcomed Sunderland to Majuro U.S. Embassy on August 7.
From Majuro, Zac reached Darwin, Australia on September 18, with a faulty bilge pump and fuel problems forcing him to land in Papua New Guinea. Zac had his first encounter with pirates on October 7 after leaving Darwin. 250 km off the Indonesian coast en route to his next stop in South Africa, in the Indian Ocean toward Cocos Islands, he encountered a large 60-70' wooden fishing boat without flags. The pirates, after shadowing the Intrepid for some time, eventually lost interest and sped off, but not before Zac, as a precaution, had loaded his revolver and locked himself in his cabin. Zac had endured 25-knot winds and 10-foot seas for more than 24 hours on October 13. Amid continuing engine and fuel problems, a snapped boom, and a broken tiller, needing repairs, Zac Sunderland reached Cocos Islands (a.k.a. Keeling Islands) in the eastern Indian Ocean on October 14. He proceeded to Mauritius, thereby completing half of his expedition. Zac turned 17 on November 29 2008, while still at sea. Zac arrived in Durban, South Africa on December 14, after a delay of around 10 days because of a lack of wind. He plans to fly home to California on December 22 for Christmas to be with his family and will return to South Africa after Christmas to continue his circumnavigation of the world.
Sunderland sailed short hops to East London, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay, and finally got to Cape Town, where he had a completely unplanned, chance meeting with Mike Perham, who is also vying for a record as the world's youngest solo-circumnavigator, and Minoru Saito who, at 75, is making his eight solo-circumnavigation and holds the record as the oldest solo, non-stop circumnavigator. After departing Cape Town Zac continued on to St Helena and then across the Atlantic to Grenada. His next stop was Panama, where he crossed the canal into the Pacific. After a couple of stops in Mexico, to dodge bad weather and repair a bulkhead, Zac tacked back up the coast to home.

Sailing 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
Rodrigues Island, Mauritius (unplanned stop)
Port Louis, Mauritius
Durban, South Africa
East London, South Africa
Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Mossel Bay, South Africa
Cape Town, South Africa
St. Helena, South Atlantic Ocean
Grenada
Colón, Panama
Panama City, Panama
Marina Chahue, Huatulco, Mexico (unplanned stop)
Puerto de la Navidad Marina, Barra de Navidad, Mexico (unplanned stop)
San Diego, California (unplanned stop)
Marina del Rey, California