Today, Mike Perham crossed an imaginary line off the Cornish coast, sending himself in to the record books for being the youngest person to sail solo around the world. This was unquestionably an extraordinary feat for anybody to achieve, but does his age have any relevance?

Mike’s journey has no doubt qualified him as a truly capable sailor, and every respect should be paid for that, but why the focus on his age? It’s hard to avoid posing the reason that it made the challenge that much harder, but if that is true, then surely it was only harder for the wrong reasons.

If age did have any effect on the difficulty of this epic challenge then it must surely be down to a lack of mental, or perhaps physical preparation. If that were indeed the case, then it cannot command any more respect. Worse still, it would make the entire feat condemnable.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that Mike was ill prepared, far from it, he had a solo Atlantic crossing under his belt, and I am absolutely not questioning the man’s ability as a sailor, but what of his age? It is irrelevant, and the fact that the press are focusing on it is dangerous, which leads me to another story which has been in the news over the past few days – a 13 year old Dutch girl, set on following in Mike’s footsteps to become the youngest solo circumnavigator.

I have to question the motives for such an attempt. I fail to believe that this girl wants to undertake such a monumental challenge for the only two reasons that would be acceptable, and that is either self challenge, or to beat the French. If it was to test one’s mettle, if indeed a 13 year old has been around long enough to developed any, then age doesn’t matter. She could easily wait a few years until she is both physically stronger and mentally more capable of dealing with the potential close encounter with one’s own mortality. If she does set off at 13 and is prepared both mentally and physically, then it is no more of a challenge and deserves no more respect than any other circumnavigation. If she is, as is likely, not mature enough to deal with the task, then it is foolish, poor seamanship, and should be frowned upon.

Let us stop this obsession with age, it is irrelevant to the accomplishment, and it’s pushing people into doing things that are quite frankly unacceptable. A fast round the world non-stop sail will take her three months. That is a long time for a child to, as Sir Robin put it, spend in “solitary confinement, with hard labour”.

I wonder if her parents would let her move to another country, live in a flat on her own, cook for herself, clean for herself, and climb on to the roof top in a violent storm in order to fix the TV aerial? Or maybe they would be happy for her to be involved in a sexual relationship? Surely you can’t compare under age sex with sailing around the world, I here you say, but I can. If she is mature enough to be totally responsible for her life, to be able to mentally deal with the horror that I can only imagine, and console herself against ultimate physical abuse, then on her return she should be allowed to go out to the local pub, get lashed on Dutch lager, and sleep with whomever she pleases, because she would be more grown up that your average adult. Do you think that is acceptable for a 13 year old? I hope not.

I don’t believe that children should be wrapped in cotton wool, far from it, but in this case I can’t help but agree with the Dutch government stepping in. Unless she can prove she is capable of doing it, as did Mike Perham in a solo trans-Atlantic, with his father nearby in another boat, then she has no place in risking her life for public attention.