Sebastian Clover, more commonly known as Seb Clover (born 15 January 1987), is a former English record-breaking sailor and

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

. Clover is a former young adventurer from Cowes on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

in England, who, at the age of 15 years and 362 days, was the youngest person in the world to successfully sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly (in late 2002 – early 2003). Another young Briton,

Michael Perham Michael Perham (born 16 March 1992) is an English sailor and adventurer from Potters Bar. In 2007 at the age of 14 he became the youngest person in the world to successfully sail across the Atlantic Ocean single-handedly, beating the record se ...

, surpassed his record in 2007. Clover also allegedly crossed the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

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 Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...

, on the

,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 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...

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 Nelson's Dockyard is a cultural heritage site and marina in English Harbour, located in Saint Paul Parish on the island of Antigua, in Antigua and Barbuda. It is part of Nelson's Dockyard National Park, which also contains Clarence House and ...

on Antigua. Both father and son sailed identical

Contessa 32 The Contessa 32 is a 9.75 metre (32 ft) fibreglass monohull sailing yacht, designed in 1970 by David Sadler in collaboration with yachtbuilder Jeremy Rogers, as a larger alternative to the Contessa 26. With over 750 hulls built, the yacht ...

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

killer whale The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...

s and rigging problems meant Seb was unable to catch up with his father. He had to repair a

shroud Shroud usually refers to an item, such as a cloth, that covers or protects some other object. The term is most often used in reference to '' burial sheets'', mound shroud, grave clothes, winding-cloths or winding-sheets, such as the famous S ...

fixture that broke in heavy weather. His priority became to keep the mast standing and finish without pushing the boat too much. Seb eventually lost the race and arrived in Antigua a day behind his father when he was 15 years and 362 days old. He lost his title in January 2007, when

made the crossing at the age of 14.

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 Raymarine is a manufacturer and major supplier of electronic equipment for marine use. The company targets both recreational and light commercial markets with their products, which include: * GPS Chartplotters * VHF Radios *Digital Fishfinders ...

Young Sailor of the Year Award 2003 which was announced at the Schroders London Boat Show.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clover, Sebastian 1987 births Living people English sailors People from Cowes Single-handed sailors Sports world record setters Alumni of the University of Plymouth People educated at Ryde School with Upper Chine