Sixteen-year-old Mike Perham is on his way to setting another world record. He is already the youngest person to sail singlehanded across the Atlantic and once he crosses the line off Lizard Point tomorrow, he will sail the next 21,600 nautical miles on his own.

According to the World Speed Sailing Record Council (WSSRC) the youngest unassisted non-stop solo circumnavigation was completed by 18-year-old Australian Jesse Martins aboard his yacht Lionheart in 1999 departing and finishing in Melbourne, Australia. Martins took 327 days.

Mike is sailing an Open 50 yacht chartered from the Escoffier family in France who his father says, have ‘adopted him like a son’ in preparation for the trip. His sponsors include some of the biggest names in boating in the UK: Blakes Paints, Kemp Sails, Furuno, Mcmurdo, Viking, Tektanks, Marlow, Harken and B&G.

He departed Portsmouth’s Gunwharf Quays on Saturday 15 November and is spending the night in Falmouth preparing to leave there at 10AM tomorrow (Tuesday 18 November).

He hopes to be back in the UK by March, 2009 in time for his 17th birthday.

Keep track of his progress on Mike Perham’s website