Whatever the rights and wrongs of "youngest" sailing attempts, I was really impressed with the character and resilience he showed. A fantastic achievement.
He ran around the deck without a harness on and he was often seen on camera without wearing a safety harness. Even when he was 'Crossing The Line' he leant over the rail to pour champagne in the ocean for Neptune with no harness. One slip and he would have been gone!
Can see it again on Channel 13, Channel 4+1 right now.
He ran around the deck without a harness on and he was often seen on camera without wearing a safety harness. Even when he was 'Crossing The Line' he leant over the rail to pour champagne in the ocean for Neptune with no harness. One slip and he would have been gone!
Can see it again on Channel 13, Channel 4+1 right now.
Did Day Mellon or Dee Caffrey always clip on?
__________________
Thinking about muscles can make you stronger
The foxy yachtmistress of Roxy certainly did not as she did her break dance on the coachroof of her racing boat half way around the world.
It is a sad refection on the average Scuttlebutt forum member that the most insightful comment someone can make on a fascinating documentary is some health & safety wibble about clipping on while giving Neptune his share of the champagne bottle.
My thoughts on the program... impressive young man, shame about the father. Parnham senior's emotional quotient must be seriously lacking, 7 months after sending off his son on this venture his primary concern was to maneuver his son across the deck to give the TV camera a good angle on the welcome home hug. What a creep!
It is a sad refection on the average Scuttlebutt forum member that the most insightful comment someone can make on a fascinating documentary is some health & safety wibble about clipping on while giving Neptune his share of the champagne bottle.
I think/hope that comment may have been very much togue in cheeck
Quote:
Originally Posted by csharpatsea
My thoughts on the program... impressive young man, shame about the father. Parnham senior's emotional quotient must be seriously lacking, 7 months after sending off his son on this venture his primary concern was to maneuver his son across the deck to give the TV camera a good angle on the welcome home hug. What a creep!
Seconded - met the bloke once (when he was seeking help/publicity for the transat) - very odious type.
Talk about vicarious living
not just me then,i went off the dad when they were buying batteries in the supermarket,the son said "these are very expensive" dad says "dont worry we are not paying",
what about the girlfriend?dumping the poor lad when he was at his lowest ebb,nice girl.
Can't help reflect on how sailing has changed through technology since Chichester.
Obviously the lad has balls and I reflect on how he compares with the many couch potatoes that have been brought up on computer games these days. He was poorly sponsored and budget limited though and the preparation for the trip was very poor too.
Largely his accomplishment was reliant on detailed Meteorological help from experts ashore routing him around all the nasties en route. He was constantly in touch with home through satphone and in the last analysis failed miserably in terms of what he set out to do. There was no mention of how he transited the Panama Canal. Obiously he had assistance to get through. You can't really therefore say that he achieved a single handed circumnavigation at all. My lasting impression was that any fit young man with reasonable sailing ability would have been able to achieve the same thing given adequate assistance and available technology avoiding the worst of the southern ocean by staying as north as possible and avoiding Cape Horn. Compared to the awesome achievement of Daymelon who was RACING. This was a walk in the park.
I've got it on the planner to watch ... however ...
what would your comment have been had Mike gone south, attempting to go around Cape Horn and lost his rig in the process? He would've been called foolhardy at best ...
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Bavaria keels don't fall off, they just wobble slightly.
I've got it on the planner to watch ... however ...
what would your comment have been had Mike gone south, attempting to go around Cape Horn and lost his rig in the process? He would've been called foolhardy at best ...
Yes you are right. With that boat, at that time, with that forecast I would have done the canal myself but I didn't set off to be the youngest single handed round the world non-stop sailor ever. My contention is that very early on he lost out on the possibility of non-stop largely due to poor preparation. Going through the canal means he was not single handed either!
Well, He set out a boy and came back a man. I think you are all forgetting what it is like to be sixteen. No way I could have done it. I was impressed with him as he knew the boat was not set up or sorted correctly, knew he had a rubbish budget and knew he had a difficult boat. But he still set off and did get around the world. I do get the feeling that this was his dads dream though not his!
I also thought about safety lines but at sixteen/seventeen kids need to take risks. He did use body armour etc for climbing the mast, and mostly had a jacket or line on. No one is perfect! I bet he got more out of that trip than he will out of anything else in life and so well done. The decision to go over the strn showed his mental grit!
I also thought his Girlfriend was just looking for press coverage as she wants to be on the stage, but they were both only young.!
Overall a good programme and I wished it had focused on the details and issues more...but well done Mike!
Paul
__________________
Boating is the only thing that keeps me sane!
Determined lad but got to agree - his dad was scary - cared more about the achievement than his sons life I reckon - or maybe its what you call "blind faith"
Yes, son came out of it smelling of roses, I expect any dad would be proud to have a son like him. But as for the father and girlfriend, both seemed rather self centred, but then the producers had a programme to make and no doubt had many many hours of film they could use to slant it any way they wished. So maybe we're being harsh on the girlfriend.............
Yes you are right. With that boat, at that time, with that forecast I would have done the canal myself but I didn't set off to be the youngest single handed round the world non-stop sailor ever. My contention is that very early on he lost out on the possibility of non-stop largely due to poor preparation. Going through the canal means he was not single handed either!
Ah - but there you go - older and wiser ....
Hopefully Mike will have done a lot of learning on his trip and will learn to listen the advice of others and make better decisions of his own.
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Bavaria keels don't fall off, they just wobble slightly.
I thought the boy done well - and his family did too. It took real commitment from all of them. They showed an ability to react to the conditions - essential for all sailors. Try not to judge people too harshly by the way TV programmes are edited and put together.
Seven months squeezed into an hour or so of TV - there is bound to be some distortion of the expereince.
Try not to be too harsh on them... you should see some of the comments I have to remove from my videos on you tube. Very personal attacks and even death threats from Ramsgate. Then there are the experts offering me their advice based on little more than reading half of the first chapter of a Hiscock book before dosing off on the sofa.
What ever the reasons and results of the voyage , I think the Mike's achievement was superb, what ever technology is available, its still a young man facing the elements when the chips are down.A pure sailing documentory would not be of much interest to the average television viewer, but the human interest aspect with the girlfriend relationship , would make it much more attractive proposition for a broadcaster.Its easy to be critical but I thought the youngsters acquitted themselves well.
Mike Perham, didnt he do well? Congratulations to one brave young man. However purely based on what I saw on the documentary last night I would say, one very very lucky young man. there was more luck than skill or preparation involved in that trip I think. It struck me he was heavily pushed by his father.
As some others have suggested, I too think his father is a creep, I suspect there might well be a large amount of father worship by the lad that drove him to do the trip.
The issue with the girl and the relationship, really what can you expect with youngsters of that age, relationships are rarely forever, but I suspect there might well have been more than a little drama added for the documentary in this case. If they were really through, you would expect her to have disappeared. As for the documentary, I wonder how many times they watched the Day Mellon documentary before the trip? Some parts looked very familiar.
This all said I say again one very lucky and brave young man. He got through a very difficult trip to massage the ego of a creep of a father.
__________________
"You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you"
Roger Waters 1972
No doubt that it was a great achievement for the young man however highly "managed" the trip was. As usual with these programmes a lot of detail was ommitted. The lack of footage for the Panama Canal transit being one.
Last edited by meandraft; 06-11-09 at 11:07.
Reason: Didn't read Wikipedia correctly.
What ever the reasons and results of the voyage , I think the Mike's achievement was superb, what ever technology is available, its still a young man facing the elements when the chips are down.A pure sailing documentory would not be of much interest to the average television viewer, but the human interest aspect with the girlfriend relationship , would make it much more attractive proposition for a broadcaster.Its easy to be critical but I thought the youngsters acquitted themselves well.
Rob
No problem with the lad's achievement. He showed real courage. I do, however, feel uneasy about the raison d'etre of the voyage and the real motives of his rather creepy parent. It was clear to me that this was a trip that the father had been prevented from doing by his parents. He therefore looked to repeat his "convoy crossing" of the Atlantic with Mike and himself in separate boats. The money failed to materialise so they fell back on plan B -- one boat for Mike.
As Mark from Team Ellen, Rod Carr and Robin K-J said in the film, preparation is vital for a testing trip like this. It was clear that neither Mike nor his boat were fully prepared for this, hence the gear failures along the way that cost him time and money and could have cost him his life. Mike clearly loves his dad and the boy grew in stature and experience as the trip went along and he deserves full credit, but I guess you have to ask if chasing a dream -- albeit vicariously -- justifies putting your son into possible danger by launching without proper preparation. Mike was brave, but he was also lucky.
Yes, son came out of it smelling of roses, I expect any dad would be proud to have a son like him. But as for the father and girlfriend, both seemed rather self centred, but then the producers had a programme to make and no doubt had many many hours of film they could use to slant it any way they wished. So maybe we're being harsh on the girlfriend.............
Yes, however portrayed by the film, there is no doubt that Peter's achievement is just as impressive as his son's in it's own way. Finding the sponsorship is a minor miracle, as is putting together a film of that quality.
I think some of the scenes perhaps tell a good story rather than holding a mirror up to reality. In terms of seamanship we must remember that he has crossed the atlantic in a boat, I think, designed and built by his father. They are no mugs though for the sake of the tale they might not mind being portrayed so in part.
Largely his accomplishment was reliant on detailed Meteorological help from experts ashore routing him around all the nasties en route. He was constantly in touch with home through satphone
I imagine watching Formula 1 grand prix racing on TV triggers similar thoughts for you?
Let's face it most of the Open nn round the world attempts have had the same level of shore support over the past 10 years. I suggest you send a letter to the Queen stating that the Dame Mellonous is a fraud.
Quote:
Originally Posted by boatmike
My lasting impression was that any fit young man with reasonable sailing ability would have been able to achieve the same thing
An opinion that is of course confirmed by the fact that each summer 5000 mature and experienced British yachtsmen singlehand their yachts on a little 5 day jaunt down to Portugal or the Azores prior to the family flying out.
Mike you are a ridiculous old f@rt.
For most yachtsmen a solo AZAB would be the crowning achievement of a life time of sailing and is something most never feel ready for. When 30 old f@arts set off on their mid summer Jester challenge a couple of years ago the vast majority abandoned their Atlantic crossing.
The Mike Perham story is not about the validity of a record breaking attempt, it is about how the mind of a youth deals with a succession of setbacks, long-term fatigue and how he copes with months of solitude.
I enjoyed the programme and think that Mike did a fantastic job... but I agree that his father appears to be a control freak (shouting at him just before jumping off at the start said it all) and I do wonder whether at the beginning Mike was just doing it to please his father... who seemed to be relying on faith in the fella upstairs quite a bit . At the end though it appeared Mike had matured as a person as a result of the trip. A great achievement and one to be celebrated rather than scorned upon from the comfort of an armchair. Not all the yoof of today are as bad as some folk make out
i'm afraid i lost interest and didn't watch past the 'worst new year ever' bit (felt like they'd tried to construct a scene to copy ellen's christmas day but then of course he'd been on dry land christmas only a few days prior - you do wonder how many bad new years a 16 year old might have had ). there never seemed a clear reason why he wanted to do it. not sure if this was just poor film making or rather dull characters. this was not a patch on the ellen doc.
the happy clapping scene was a bit of a turn off moment too........
I When 30 old f@arts set off on their mid summer Jester challenge a couple of years ago the vast majority abandoned their Atlantic crossing.
The Mike Perham story is not about the validity of a record breaking attempt, it is about how the mind of a youth deals with a succession of setbacks, long-term fatigue and how he copes with months of solitude.
i'm afraid i'm more inspired by the old farts on the jester!
how he coped with setbacks? called home and stopped in for professionals to carry out repairs. (not exactly wow)
months of solitude?!? with satphone and seemingly regular landfall he was never truly alone imho. is being able to be alone an achievement? some of us find not being alone harder.
he's only young so good on him for his adventure. although at points it seemed to be more the dad's adventure to be fair.....
I can hardly believe that the first time he ever sailed the boat single handed was the day he crossed the start line. That's recklessly stupid, especially in something like an Open 50.
I can hardly believe that the first time he ever sailed the boat single handed was the day he crossed the start line. That's recklessly stupid, especially in something like an Open 50.
Yes I was surprised to see Mike struggling with a basic lesson on apparent wind angles an hour before the solo departure. But that is an attribute of smart people, you can throw them unprepared into strange situations and they cope. I witnessed much the same on a SunSail flotilla holiday in Turkey.
Well thank you csharp. But please, not so much of the ridiculous please, as I have in fact done the AZAB you refer to 3 times in the quite distant past amongst other notable trips.... Possibly a few more times than you? But we wouldn't know that would we as you have not seen fit to fill your profile in so we really don't know after just 17 posts (mostly critical of others) who the hell you really are do we????
i'm afraid i lost interest and didn't watch past the 'worst new year ever' bit ...
It did improve rapidly after that (IMHO) as Mike came into his own.
Congratulations to him. He HAS sailed around the world, every inch of the way. I chatted to him briefly at SIBS before his transat (as I'm sure did 1000s of others) and he was a nice, unassuming lad.
I really question the father's motives, and like most others found him scary/creepy. To some extent Mike was unlucky with gear, but then again he was lucky with the weather.
Quote:
...the happy clapping scene was a bit of a turn off moment too........
K-J should know. Read his book and it becomes clear that K-J's yacht was just as unprepared.
Things have moved on a bit in yacht design and construction since Suhaili and Robin did have a few more sea miles under his keel before he started as well as the benefit of some extra years of experience.
Suhaili is a pretty basic design, built by K-J himself as I recall. Current highly competitive and complex boats demand much more attention being paid to preparation and older racing boats are not exactly built with longevity in mind. If you skimp, things fail, as Mike found out.
Quite a touching film I thought. e.g. the part where the father left the boat at the start of the voyage - thinking about whether I could do that when my son is 16.
A tremendous achievement all round - hats off to them!
I do though wonder whether the father was suffering from a similar syndrome to Donald Crowhurst - i.e. had reached the point of no return. I guess in this case he was taking risks with his sons life rather than his own. Having said that, I don't think the risks were excessive - a 16 year old relative novice ocean sailor is just as able to survive a capsise as a 30+ yr old seasoned one.
Don't know if the Perhams read this, but thank you for sharing the film with us.
Suhaili is a pretty basic design, built by K-J himself as I recall. Current highly competitive and complex boats demand much more attention being paid to preparation and older racing boats are not exactly built with longevity in mind. If you skimp, things fail, as Mike found out.
Have you forgotten that K-J recently went round the world in an Open 50 or 60? He suffered a ton of equipment failures, in fact his PR people turned this into THE story of the voyage.
Get his latest book for more*, it is good read if only because K-J spends a some time dwelling on how things have changed in the ocean racing scene over 35 years.
In fact my copy is in a pile of books destined for the loft, PM me your address and I will post it onto you. That would be my random act of kindness for the year or maybe the decade!
as you have not seen fit to fill your profile in so we really don't know after just 17 posts (mostly critical of others) who the hell you really are do we????
I am Jonjo, we have previous.
I thought I had successfully kicked the YBW habit after the big AIS thread bust up but I just popped in after watching the TV prog. Things have not changed, same old nonsense, same old "just weld the broken keel back together" advice :-)
I think that against all odds the boy did well. They were horrifically unprepared at the start, which was entirely down to chasing the record but he succeeded and no one can now take that away from him.
The fact that he had a sat phone and a weather router does not detract from what he's done. If you can afford it then you'd actually be a little foolish to turn your back on such fantastic aids to making fast and safe passages.
As for the girlfriend, give her a break, she's a 16 year old. Even in my 20's I don't expect a girl to wait six months for me to return from a jolly.
[QUOTE=csharpatsea;2301658]Just like Knox Johnston.
???
1. In suhalia RKJ was completely on his own. RKJ's achievement is in a different league of difficulty and daring compared to MP's
2. on the open 60, RKJ was racing and put in for repairs, but continued to race and completed the course as originally planned.
I wouldn't compare Perham to RKJ or to Dee Cafari, Sam Davis, Ellen McArthur or any of the pros.
Young Mike did well but was extremely lucky. There were moments (his knockdown) where he was scard witless, and you do wonder how he would have coped with true solitude, i.e. not being able to speak to support team before climbing the mast, taking a dive to clear ropes from the rudder etc.
Were any of these moments scripted to introduce an extra element of interest?
The knockdown / fear from that, looked genuine
Some of the other incidents: questionable, but a reflection on the father and the quest to turn his son into a cash generating asset.
Does Mike have any real talent? Determination, fortitude etc, yes. Real skill like RKJ, Chichester, Rose, Goss, Josh Hall, Dee Cafari, Mike Golding etc. Unproven in my book.
Unfortunately, he has had publicity and support that Steve White (Toe in the Water) and many other talented but forgotten sailors better deserve.
As someone who's initial impression of the voyage, before he left, echoed that of Mark Turner and Rod Carr, I have to say I was quite impressed by him. He's clearly a well glued together lad.
Can't say the same of his father though.
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You never know, I might be right!
I wouldn't compare Perham to RKJ or to Dee Cafari, Sam Davis, Ellen McArthur or any of the pros.
Neither would I, my point is that the rushed and poor quality preparation of the boat is very similar to the recent K-J voyage.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gardenshed
Young Mike did well but was extremely lucky.
A high speed round the world voyage based on luck! Luck does not hold out that long, I think the personal abilities of the young skipper was the major factor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gardenshed
Were any of these moments scripted to introduce an extra element of interest?
All the recent round the world Brit racers have been working to a PR script. With EllenMc it was tears and unrelenting cruel weather patterns. With K-J the story line was all these techno gadgets letting me down and then there was cool dudette Sam Davies dancing and clowning her way around the world.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gardenshed
Does Mike have any real talent? Determination, fortitude etc, yes. Real skill like RKJ, Chichester, Rose, Goss, Josh Hall, Dee Cafari, Mike Golding etc. Unproven in my book.
Well if sailing solo around the world at 17 does not earn you some "real skill" brownie points from your fellow countrymen it is time for MP to emigrate.
Have you forgotten that K-J recently went round the world in an Open 50 or 60? He suffered a ton of equipment failures, in fact his PR people turned this into THE story of the voyage.
Get his latest book for more*, it is good read if only because K-J spends a some time dwelling on how things have changed in the ocean racing scene over 35 years.
In fact my copy is in a pile of books destined for the loft, PM me your address and I will post it onto you. That would be my random act of kindness for the year or maybe the decade!
PM sent.Many thanks. Welcome back Jonjo, not much has changed ( in content anyway), but the old Forum is a bit addictive!
I'm not quite getting the R J-K comparisons. In the Golden Globe race K-J was completely unassisted. Any lack of preparation there was purely due to the fact that no one knew exactly what preparation would be necessary.
In the Velux 5 Oceans there were scheduled stops during the race. It was never to be non-stop. He had trouble with his electrics, but then again, everyone does. Pete Goss during his Vendee had both his autopilots fail on him, he had to fix them by himself as outside assistance would have meant disqualification but he still had an expert on the other end of the satphone. K-J had the option of getting it done by his shore team and he took that option.
I'm amazed that people are doing Mike down for A) Stopping when he had serious problems and B) Calling home for support when he needed it and using a weather router. FFS, even if he was 35 and an ocean racing pro he would still have stopped when he did and he would still have used a fecking satphone and weather router.
Well if sailing solo around the world at 17 does not earn you some "real skill" brownie points from your fellow countrymen it is time for MP to emigrate.
Agreed; I was of the school of thought that considered MP was absolutely bonkers to embark on this trip, and was relieved when he made it home. This programme has considerably heightened my regard for him. Like others on here, I didn't warm to his father; this may just have been the way that they decided to angle the film when they edited it, or it may reflect reality - my money's on the latter.
I thought I had successfully kicked the YBW habit after the big AIS thread bust up but I just popped in after watching the TV prog. Things have not changed, same old nonsense, same old "just weld the broken keel back together" advice :-)
So you changed your name? Why? Perhaps because you previously upset too many people by calling them a "ridiculous old fart"? Now back under another name with a blank bio just to argue and wind everyone up? And for the record I didn't post anything like "just weld the broken keel back together" you made that up yourself. Go wind up someone who cares you quarrelsome rude stupid fellow.
Fair play to the kid - he did something that most of us can only ever dream about. Of couse the heavily edited TV makes it a bit more dramatic as it makes good telly.
I think he's getting knocked because he undeperformed against expectation (ie taking the panama canal etc) but still a fantastic achievment.
I wouldn't be surprised to see him in something like the Vendee one day either - he's got a lot of sailing career in front of him.
K-J... He had trouble with his electrics, but then again, everyone does. Pete Goss during his Vendee had both his autopilots fail on him, he had to fix them by himself as outside assistance would have meant disqualification but he still had an expert on the other end of the satphone. K-J had the option of getting it done by his shore team and he took that option.
You need to research the story a bit further.
The K-J race entry was done a shoe-string compared to the other pro's.
Two problems bugged KJ half way around the world a bit like MP.
In the antipodes I don't think K-J had a proper shore team. Some contractor was flown out to fix the auto-pilot, reading between the lines he faced a rat's nest of existing electrical botches and tried his best.
Then again just like MP the autopilot tripped out again within 24 hours of a restart, back in harbour with the rest of the fleet off over the horizon K-J and others, decided to get serious about the auto pilot problems and relaid some new high amp circuits.
Don't worry csharpatsea, lots of Boatmike's posts start with a sanctomonious lecture about how great he or his boat craft skills are :-)
I have to say when I first heard of this adventure I was very sceptical, however during the film I became more and more impressed with this youngster. I agree the film didn't do the father much justice but at one level I was quite impressed with the dad. I was lucky enough to be able to take my dad's boat out around the Solent with my mates at the tender age of 15. It's only after I myself became a parent that I realised the signifcant guts and confidence that is required to for a parent to make such a decision. I just can't begin to contemplate waving someone so young off on an adventure around the world. Whilst we can all question his motives (I tend to agree it was a bit vicarious) what did come across was that they clearly had a loving relationship so this must have been pretty hard on the dad too. Mike was undoubdtedly lucky and it could have turned out very different...but the fact is that it didn't, he did get round, in doing so he became a great ambassador for the much maligned youth of today and I think he and his family deserve credit. We have all become so sterile that we are in danger of losing any sense of adventure.
Because I vowed not to return to this wretched place after the AIS bust up, so I destroyed Jonjo by typing random characters into my password and email fields, then I hit the update button.
Jonjo is lost adrift in cyberspace.
I managed cold turkey for 6 weeks, but a cyber druggie is never really cured. Anyhow like a life long heroine addict, my only friends are fellow YBW.com druggies like you BoatMike.
It's easy to forget that much of the sponsorship money would be due to the film for the TV that you have just watched and that was the fathers responsibility - hence trying to arrange the shot for the camera etc. Simplest thing in the world to criticise others achievemnts but not so easy to do it yourself methinks!
Because I vowed not to return to this wretched place after the AIS bust up, so I destroyed Jonjo by typing random characters into my password and email fields, then I hit the update button.
Jonjo is lost adrift in cyberspace.
I managed cold turkey for 6 weeks, but a cyber druggie is never really cured. Anyhow like a life long heroine addict, my only friends are fellow YBW.com druggies like you BoatMike.
Well please don't put me in the same catagory. I have lots of real friends and am not a "cyber druggie" and unlike you I don't come on here for an argument, or to get insulted. I can get that anywhere. If you don't agree with my opinions you are free to say so. Thats what the forums real purpose is. To exchange ideas. But don't hide behind an alias to call people names that you wouldnt have the balls to call them face to face. Thats not only rude, it's cowardly. (by the way a heroine is a female hero not a drug)
Well I think he did very well how many here have spent as long alone? and even with communications I reckon they would make it worse as having spent time away from home with work (RAF) it always seems to make it worse being reminded of home.
I wish I'd been able to do something like that at 15 but I'm going to have to wait till I get my shot later on.
As for all those knocking this that and the other, well doesn't luck play a part in any global sailing challenge as all it takes is one rogue wave and your trip could be over just look at all the professionals who have had to drop out even before they had the option to take the Panama canal? As for all the health and safety nonsense yes if he goes overboard he's had it surely he is best placed to decide whether he needs to or not not some armchair spectator who wasn't there? And what about those Vikings? I'm sure they didn't clip on or wear lifejackets all the time
Once again I admire his spirit and think he was Very lucky being able to experience such a trip. As for the dad I got the same impression as most others but maybe it was edited that way?
I think Mike did excellently despite his father. That was Competitive Dad in real life.
The girl-friend seemed genuinely unaware of the enormity of it and who can blame her for getting hacked off by the ever-expanding timescale? Who can blame her either for seeing the opportunity to further her stage/modelling career by getting back together with him at the conclusion of the voyage. I wonder if they are still an item?
We can all suggest better game-plans and better mangement of the problems. But in the end he sailed around the world in a risky boat, alone, whilst other 15 year-olds were pigging out in front of their computers.
Mike, dump your (happy, clappy) dad and capitalise on your obvious character and personality.
__________________
Thinking about muscles can make you stronger
As some others have suggested, I too think his father is a creep, I suspect there might well be a large amount of father worship by the lad that drove him to do the trip.
This all said I say again one very lucky and brave young man. He got through a very difficult trip to massage the ego of a creep of a father.
Interesting !
The following is roughly what many people in the 'trade' think :-
'It is a sad and ironic fact that many children form powerful attachments to the worst of parents '
If the above is the case, I hope he can now mentally accept his father as he is, but forge ahead in his own right and break free.
Having watched it now - it started out being a trip for the Dad .... he was going to follow Mike around in an identical boat ... they were going to buy 2 boats ...
Quite where he thought he'd get the sponsorship to shadow his Son around the globe I'm not quite sure - but I'm glad Mike got to go by himself - you could see the gradual change as he learnt to cope with different aspects of the boat ...
I wonder what the outcome would've been had he (Mike) attacked the whole project differently, got sea time on a suitable vessel and gained much of the learning prior to setting off - I rather think we could've been looking at a tricky to beat world record holder - as it is, anyone (well - any one of suitable age and substance) can have a good crack at the 'record' and it should be fairly easy to beat (sort out a suitable boat first!).
I see his next adventure is going to be a 4000Nm journey called Bounty Boat ... sailng with 3 others this time... I wonder if he's aiming to stay in sailing or turn into the next Ben Fogle?
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Bavaria keels don't fall off, they just wobble slightly.
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Slag the dad who just about bankrupted himself so his kid could do it. Slag the kid because he didn't always clip on. The guy sailed 30,000 miles at an age when most of you were still sucking the teat.
How many people on here have done anything remotely challenging or brave on their boats? Damn few of you Solent cowboys. Most of you have no right to criticise at all. It always winds me up when puddlejumpers slag real sailors off on here.
And now Jessica Watson is going to take it all away from him. Oh well, it's been a little more than 5 minutes.
Good for him, a great experience and hey ho after a few stops for jollies and considered route changes he has gone around the world in a boat.
But
People have been doing this sort of thing for years, they just didn't have the media coverage, knowledge of sponsorship etc and I suspect the motives were different (he pretty much couldn't pack in after all the hype and with dad waiting)
With the back up and support it wasn't so much a record breaking attempt as a gap year adventure.
Times change though. If you want to do this sort of thing and don't have half a million quid in the bank you need sponsorship and that was dad's job to help Mike fulfil his dream. If you get people to put up the money you have to deliver something and that drove not just dad (as has been suggested) but Mike as well. It was a team effort and it's time some of you stopped finding fault when you wouldn't have tried it yourselves. A great effort by both and a facinating presentation that they managed to produce about the trip.
With the back up and support it wasn't so much a record breaking attempt as a gap year adventure.
You can't knock what he did because he had back up support. Have a look at the support teams for the Volvo ocean race, and most of the boats for the Vendee, and the Velux. Sat phones and shore teams are an accepted part of round the world racing and record attempts and are used gladly by sailors far more experienced and capable than Mike.
Wasn't knocking the achievement, I'm all for young people getting out and doing stuff that doesn't involve a controller and a TV / PC screen. I feel sure that MP will have grown from the experience and as sailing seems to be a feature of his achievements it would be good to see him do more.
I do believe that it is much more achievable today as assistance is only an email or satphone call away and huge advice is available with the necessary spares and technical support organised and flown to the next port.
Not wrong, just a different experience IMO. It is (on a somewhat larger scale) like a lot of the things that anyone can now do that were only for the brave or foolhardy years ago, thinking about bungy jumping, climbing walls, forced water canoe slaloms, gorge jumping (canyoning), jet boat rapids rides, wing walking etc etc. all of which are more do-able now because of the technology and support available. Not to mention the commercial drivers which no doubt played a part in this event too.
Let only those who have done better cricitize him.
Sorry, I can't agree with that...Where would we be if we could only criticise those we have bettered?
So no one, with the exception of Tony Blair, John Major, Thatcher can criticise Gordon Brown? And a cabby, or a bloke in the pub can't criticise the England manager? What a sad world that would be
Anyway, after following Mike's blog for most of the way, and meeting him, a few times...and driving him to college with him not knowing where his college was, I did have my doubts that he'd do it, after all if you don't know your way to college...How the hell are you going to make it around the world?
He didn't do what he set out to achieve (single-handed non stop via the capes), so in that respect Mark Turner, Rod Carr and all his other critics were correct.
However, he has achieved more than a lot of people (myself included) thought he would, and has shown everyone what he's capable of. He had a hell of a steep learning curve, and he sprinted up it, after sailing with 2 reefs in what looked like 10-15 knots at the start under main alone, to knocking up some good miles in the pacific, it was good to see how far he had come.
While not scoffing away on humble pie, I've had a bite or two, and after seeing properly what he actually went through, I now have a lot more respect for him. Before all I'd seen was his Fast Show like video clips during the trip, and reading his blogs (about his various trips up table top mountain and penguin visits in cape town, mountain biking in Taz, flying to Australia etc.) none of which warmed him to me.
He's now achieved something his Dad hasn't, and for that he must be really proud
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In my opinion, not the opinion of Yachting Monthly or IPC media
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Just watched the programme, it seemed to me he almost started off as a reluctant participant trying to live dads dream. Did seem a very risky strategy not to have had at least one sail singlehanded on the boat before he started off however by the end he actually seemed to be enjoying it.
Clearly the hasty preparation and lack of testing contributed to the problems he encountered but have to admire his determination to complete the trip.
For me it was striking how similar the programme looked to that excellent film, Deep Water, about Donald Crowhurst. Inadequate resources and time for preparation, pressure to get off . . .
I'm just so pleased that nothing dreadful happened to the bloke. No accidents and he didn't go nuts.
It was a great achievement, an absolutely brilliant achievement but not quite the voyage of solitude faced by others in the past. In fact, would a voyage of solitude ever be completed again in the age of the sat-phone?
Clipping-on, by the way, would be commonsense I'd have thought. Taking an unintended trip into the briney would have ended a few things.
Mike Perham on Ch4 tomorrow
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