Despite fears of safety from the RNLI, the MCA and Coastguard, 14-year-old schoolboy Michael Perham, of Potters Bar has set sail in his RCD Category B 28ft trailer-sailer from Gibraltar in a bid to be the youngest person to cross the Atlantic.

He will be shadowed in a second trailer-sailer, a £35,000 Tide 28 by his father Peter, who markets the boats, on the 3,500 mile passage to Antigua taking around four weeks if successful.

The youngster hopes to beat the record set by Seb Clover, who at the age of 15 sailed a Contessa 32 across the same ocean. To follow the voyage see www.sailmike.com.