Zac Sunderland is Making History on a Boat: 17-Year-Old Sunderland on the Cover of ESPN The Magazine

While other 17-year-olds are finishing up their junior year of high school, Zac Sunderland will end off the term by returning to Thousand Oaks, Calf. after 10 months at sea. Sunderland is attempting to be the youngest person to sail around the world by himself. Escaping pirates, dodging freighters and outlasting squalls are just some of the superhero qualities that Sunderland has utilized during his 20,000 nautical-miles journey. In the new issue of ESPN The Magazine, on newsstands now, writer Chris Jones catches up with Sunderland on his boat, Intrepid, as he begins the last leg of his adventure of a lifetime.

Sunderland quotes from the article:

• “Do you think I could do it,” Sunderland asks his father before the trip. “Yes,” Laurence Sunderland said. “You probably could.” To which Sunderland replies, “Would you let me?” Laurence says, “I’ll have to talk to your mother. This is a pretty big thing.”
• "They say sailing is 80% hard work and 20% bliss, but somehow the 20% outweighs the 80%.It doesn’t make any sense, but they’re totally right.”
• "When you talk about sailing 25,000 nautical miles at six knots, it’s almost impossible to contemplate.”

The old adage Silence is Golden proves true for Ashley Fiolek, the current Women’s Motocross Association champion. She was born deaf and has to glance at her trainer to find out what place she finished after races. Writer Alyssa Roenigk describes the struggles this 18-year-old motocross pro faces as she prepares to compete against the guys.

Fiolek quotes (through a translator) from the article:

• “Before a race, I can’t hear people talking smack to me or bothering me at the line. If somebody is coming up from behind me, I don’t have the pressure of knowing they’re there. But if I’m coming up on someone, they have that pressure.”
• “Sometimes I go on the message boards and see people say that I won’t do it, that no girl would ever qualify with the men. I get so mad.”
• “I send about 1,000 texts in a day.”

In Protecting Par, writer Jeff Bradley details Mike Davis’, United States Golf Association’s senior director of rules and competition, quest to make the U.S. Open the ultimate skills challenge for its competitors. ESPN The Magazine documents Davis’ makeover of the course at Bethpage Black for the 2009 Open.

Introducing The Tool Kit: Building Better Pros – an new feature to The Magazine that – that gives fans an inside-out look at sports through the equipment that helps star athletes take their games to the next level. First up, a tribute to the blocking sled, a primitive hunk of metal and foam that can make a grown man cry. Just ask Dolphins offensive lineman Jake Long . Eddie Matz reports.

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

PLAYING HARDBALL. Stephen Strasburg's talent has set the stage for an epic draft-day showdown between a ruthless agent (Scott Boras) and a hapless franchise (Nationals). Tim Keown reports.

PAST PERFORMANCES DOES NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE RESULTS. Think the likes of the Bulls or Rajon Rondo will ride NBA playoff success toward bigger things next season? Hold that thought. Jordan Brenner reports.

CALLING ALL QUARTERBACKS. With its rep, for churning out Heisman winners, the Elite 11 Competition for high school QBs has become a hotbed for recruiting—and scholarship prospecting. Bruce Feldman reports.

WHEN GREAT ONES GO, IT MIGHT HURT US MORE THAN IT DOES THEM. Big Papi's megaslump has been agonizing for Red Sox Nation. Bill Simmons writes.

CHAMP OF THE PEOPLE. Rocco Mediate didn’t win the U.S. Open last year. It just seems like he did. Rick Reilly writes.

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