Getting Younger

This weekend, while many of us were deciding important issues such as who will be in the Superbowl, a 16 year old American girl sailed off from California in an attempt to become the youngest nonstop solo circumnavigator. You can follow the trek of Abby Sunderland and her yacht, Wild Eyes, on her website: http://abbysunderland.com

Of course, we've also been paying close attention to Australia's Jessica Watson, who embarked on her own quest to solo-sail around the world, unassisted, this past September. Just this weekend, around the time that Abby was setting sail, Jessica was passing through an incredible storm that she said pushed her mast "180 degrees in to the water". More details and pics of the damage done to her yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, are available at Jessica's blog.

Pete Thomas, writing for the LA Times, has a great piece about Abby's adventure, and includes factoids such as Abby's older brother Zac is (currently) the youngest American to sail around the world alone. He did it at 17, and was trumped within weeks by England's Mike Perham, who did the same but "at a slightly younger 17."

These are all amazing "kids" doing amazing things, and we look forward to their safe and successful returns!

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