Perham's departure from Cascais imminent

Sailing schoolboy, Mike Perham, 16, who hopes to become the youngest, solo, non-stop circumnavigator was champing at the bit to be under way again this afternoon…or at the latest tomorrow morning.

Having left Falmouth last Tuesday and make a flying start across Biscay, Perham was forced to stop in Cascais, on Friday, with autopilot problems. His father, Peter, flew down to the Portuguese port to help Mike organise repairs.

‘It required an expert to track down what was wrong,’ said Peter, ‘ basically two wires which could have been better connected caused the problem.’ Mike wants to get under way as soon as possible because on Wednesday the forecast is for light winds in the area.

His father added: ‘Mike wants to go round non-stop which now means from Cascais to Cascais. But if he does have to stop again he will still be the youngest person to sail solo round the world.’

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