Two teenagers in rival bids to become the youngest person to sail around the world singlehanded could meet in Cape Town this week. Mike Perham, 16, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, is to make an unscheduled stop in the South Africa port in the next few days to make repairs to his Open 50Totallymoney.combefore heading off into the Pacific and the Southern Ocean. Meanwhile Zac Sunderland, 17, from California, USA, has already stopped in the city and is planning to rest there for a couple of weeks before heading for home via the Atlantic.

Kizzi Nkwocha, a spokesman for Mike, said that the young Briton will not be initiating a meeting with his American competitor but that both he and his father Peter, who is flying out to South Africa to rendezvous with his son, are aware that they may well bump into one another. ‘The focus is to repair totallymoney.com and to get underway as quickly as possible. There are no plans to meet at this stage, but if Zac wants to meet Mike or if the parents want to meet we are not going to stop them,’ Mr Nkwocha said.

Zac is currently half way through his round-the-world trip, sailing a 36ft Islander cruising yacht,Intrepid. He plans to complete his circumnavigation – via the Panama Canal – this summer. In the event that he does so before Mike completes his circumnavigation, the American’s record may well be short lived because he is a few months older than the Brit.