A fifteen-year-old from Devon who became the youngest person to singlehandedly sail across the English Channel is now turning his attention to a much bigger challenge.

Oli Hancox sailed from Plymouth to Trebeurden, Brittany in July, raising almost £10,000 for Cancer Research in memory of his father, Neil, who died of the disease in 2008 and was one of the first men to windsurf across the Channel in the 1980s.

And now he is shifting his focus onto becoming the world’s youngest circumnavigator.

His Channel crossing took place on a 17ft 1969 Silhouette called Cariad, so his first priority for going around the world is finding sponsors to fund a bigger boat.

He said: ‘We are starting to think about contacting people about going around the world.

‘Hopefully the Channel crossing shows people that I’m not just going to take the money and run.

‘After the Channel crossing going round the world started to become, from something that wouldn’t happen, something that could happen.

‘If there was a scale from one to ten on how difficult the two voyages are, the channel would be a minus one and the world would be a 10.’

In order to become the world’s youngest circumnavigator, a title currently held by Australia’s Jessica Watson, Oli must complete his voyage by March 2012.

To learn more about his channel crossing visit www.channelchallenge.co.uk or donate at www.justgiving.com/oliverhancox.

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