The father of Zac Sunderland has revealed his son’s bid to become the youngest person to sail solo round the world has left him with massive debts. Laurence Sunderland, a shipwright whose business has suffered because of the recession, reluctantly conceded in an interview with the LA Times that the odyssey has cost about £140,000, and that the family is sinking hopelessly into debt and now must pay for Zac’s passage through the Panama Canal.

The 17-year-old adventurer is currently crossing the Atlantic, covering up to 170 miles a day, and approaching Grenada in the southeastern Caribbean. He should reach the island nation by Wednesday of next week. “It feels like I should be seeing land by now I’ve been out here so long,” Zac reports on his blog.

Overall, Zac has been at sea or in far-flung ports since last June, when he
set out to become the youngest person to solo-sail around the world. After
Grenada he’ll sail to Colon, Panama, then travel nearly 3,000 miles to his
Marina del Rey starting point.

Picture AP