Young solo sailor's new challenge

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A teenager who became the youngest person to sail solo around the world with assistance will draw on the mutiny on the Bounty for his next challenge.

Mike Perham, 17, from Hertfordshire, has only been ashore for two weeks since his record-breaking voyage.

Next year he will be part of a team recreating a 4,000-mile trip made by the Bounty's Captain Bligh.

The journey will be made without modern equipment to coincide with the 221st anniversary of the mutiny.

The incident, featured in the Mutiny on the Bounty films, involved Fletcher Christian taking control of the ship with 11 other mutineers in the Pacific Ocean.

Captain William Bligh and 18 crewmen were set adrift in the ship's 23-ft launch, eventually reaching safety.

Bligh's seamanship was said to have saved them all from death as he sailed from Tofua, one of the Friendly Islands, landing in Timor, Java, on 14 June.

The journey was 3,618 nautical miles and took them 47 days.

Mike will be part of the team which will follow Bligh's journey - using the same methods the captain employed.

A spokesman for the challenge said: "They will face the same deprivations, with little food, no charts or toilet paper and only the limited navigation implements that were available to Bligh."

Mike, of Potters Bar, sailed into the record books when he completed his solo circumnavigation on 27 August.

Antarctica challenges

He set off last November and battled with 50ft waves, gale force winds and numerous technical difficulties during the 30,000-mile challenge.

Australian Don McIntyre, 54, is leading the Bounty trip. He has sailed solo around the world and carried out challenges in Antarctica.

A third member of the crew is Irene Beard, director of the Sheffield Institute Foundation.

A further two members are being sought for the challenge which is set to start on 28 April next year.