16 Year Old Sets Sail For Epic Voyage

A 16 year old Queensland student has set herself a task of extraordinary proportions: to sail around the world unassisted.

Jessica Watson set sail from the Sunshine Coast in what will be a 10 day solo non-stop voyage to Sydney. It is from the harbour city that she will begin her voyage in what will be a world record.

Watson, who has been sailing since she was 8, believes that she can break the previous record by April 2010.

The record has changed recently. In 1999, fellow Aussie, Jesse Martin, took the record by sailing around the world at the age of 18 in a trip that took 328 days.

That record was since smashed by 17 year old Mike Perham from England only last month.