California teenager attempts to become youngest to sail solo around the world

A Southern California teenager is looking to set a record by becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

On a weekend when most people his age are settling into summer break, 16-year-old Zac Sunderland of Thousand Oaks, California, embarked from Marina Del Rey Saturday afternoon in his 36-foot (11-meter) sailboat Intrepid on his attempt to circumnavigate the world.

A crowd of about 200 and a Coast Guard helicopter saw him off.

"There was a stiff breeze and after Zac got settled was cruising comfortably," Sunderland's mother Marianne Sunderland wrote in a post on his Web site, http://www.zacsunderland.com. "He has a lot to do in the next days; stowing, organizing and finding everything that was stowed and organized for him!"

If Sunderland completes the trip he would become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo.

According to Guinness World Records, the youngest to pull off the feat is Australian David Dicks, who circled the globe at 18 in 1996.

Sunderland's plan, which will inevitably go through many changes, is to complete his voyage in 11 months and return to California in April 2009 when he will be 17.

The oldest of seven children, Sunderland is a lifelong sailor from a long line of yachtsmen _ his Web site says his first home was a 55-foot (17-meter) Tradewind sailboat.

He had planned to set sail late last month, but a broken gearbox seal forced the replacement of the boat's engine.