Sebastian Clover (born 15 January 1987)
Clover is a former young adventurer from Cowes on the Isle of Wight in England, who, at the age of 15 years and 362 days,
Clover also allegedly crossed the English Channel single-handedly at the age of 11, which led his mother to dare him to cross the Atlantic Ocean next.
Education
Clover was educated at Ryde School with Upper Chine, a co-educational independent school in the seaside town of
Ryde, on the Isle of Wight,
[BBC News at 6 and all ITN news programmes on the first day of Clover's return to school, after his successful single-handed voyage. Both broadcasters featured interviews with Clover and his classmates inside the school, and named the school in their reports.] followed by the University of Plymouth (subsequently renamed Plymouth University for marketing purposes), in 2005.
The record
From 19 December 2002 to 12:50 GMT
on 12 January 2003,
Seb raced his father across the Atlantic Ocean for
between Santa Cruz de Tenerife on the
Canary Islands and Nelson's Dockyard on
Antigua. Both father and son sailed identical Contessa 32 yachts. Seb made the crossing in a yacht called
Reflection, his father in one called
Xixia.
The voyage did not pass without problems. Both racers had close encounters with and rigging problems meant Seb was unable to catch up with his father. He had to repair a shroud fixture that broke in heavy weather.
Seb eventually lost the race and arrived in Antigua a day behind his father
Awards
In the aftermath of his achievement, Clover received several awards. He was named Best Prodigy of the Year by the Duchess of York in the second edition of Britain's Brilliant Prodigies Awards.
He also received the Young Sportsman Award in the BBC South Sports Awards 2003
and the
Raymarine Young Sailor of the Year Award 2003 which was announced at the Schroders London Boat Show.
