A 17-YEAR-OLD Kingswear teenager plans to sail single-handed around the British Isles after being inspired by Ellen MacArthur's voyages.

Henry Bomby, a sixth former at Churston Ferrers Grammar School, is a passionate sailor.

And while already racing in the very competitive classes, his dream has always been to have his own boat and take on some of the great challenges sailing has to offer.

His first challenge, and one of the toughest, is going to be sailing single-handed around the British Isles.

Henry is going to make it tougher by throwing in climbing the three peaks of Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, take in the Round the Island Race and compete in the J80 Class World Championships on the Solent.

He will be supported in this ambitious venture by Baltic Wharf Boatyard at Totnes.

The teenager needed to raise the money and plan his preparation for the sail in great detail to ensure most eventualities had been covered and to minimise the risk of failure.

Henry said: "One of my most crucial decisions was the choice of boat. It needed to be a good sea boat capable of long passages, easily manageable single-handed and within a realistic budget.

"Having decided on the Contessa 26 built by Jeremy Rogers I eventually found Gerunuk, a beautiful boat tucked away in Brixham harbour."

While banks were not prepared to loan money to someone still at school and no company was interested in sponsoring him, this did not deter Henry. He came up with the idea of a loan to buy the boat and then selling the boat at the end of the journey to repay the money.

Steve Mittler, director of Baltic Wharf Boatyard, said: "Henry approached me with his project and I was very taken by his enthusiasm and plans for the round the British Isles sailing adventure.

"For Baltic Wharf it provides a vehicle for promoting our business, but also we can support Henry in this fantastic life experience.

"We have agreed a support package including a loan for the purchase of a boat, the use of the boatyard to winter the boat and technical help and resources from our experienced team to prepare her for single-handed sailing."

Henry started sailing at the age of six, initially with a Topper dinghy and now sails a Laser dinghy as well as crewing and helming on racing yachts. He is also a qualified RYA assistant dinghy instructor and helps with the training at the Royal Dart Yacht Club.

Henry said: "I have taken every opportunity to improve my sailing by racing on a variety of boats at club, national and world championship level as well as spending the summer of 2007 in the Mediterranean on the famous maxi yacht Mistress Quickly.

"Alongside the sailing I did work experience with North Sails and Dart Sails to learn about making and repairing sails."

Henry has regularly raced in the J80 yacht class, winning the Plymouth Winter series in 2006 when he crewed on the Royal Castle Hotel yacht. This year he has helmed the new J80 Team Baltic for Baltic Wharf.

Plans for 2009 are for Henry to take his RYA Yachtmasters qualification and a full programme of racing including the J80 National Championships being held in Torbay in August, all part of the build-up to going around the British Isles in 2010.

He still has to raise money to cover the cost of the refit this winter and to fund going around the British Isles. He is still hoping to find sponsors, and is also looking at a sponsored-by-the-mile arrangement with a share going to charity.

For more information see Henry's website www.henrybombysailing.co.uk