A British schoolboy is within hours of becoming the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic.

Seb Clover is on course to arrive at Antigua in the small hours of Sunday, before sailing in to the island's English Harbour in the early afternoon.

The 15-year-old, from Cowes on the Isle of Wight, has been narrowly beaten to the end of the 2,700-mile journey by his father.

Ian Clover landed at about 1200 GMT on Saturday, about 14 hours ahead of his son.

Now Seb is eager to get ashore and see some human beings Simon Davies, race spokesman

Father and son set out from Tenerife on 19 December, spending Christmas at sea.

Earlier in the race, both were followed by killer whales and Seb struggled with broken rigging.

Race spokesman Simon Davies said: "Ian wanted to get to Antigua first so he could see Seb arrive.

"Now Seb is eager to get ashore and see some human beings."

The 15-year-old was dogged by rig problems

Seb, whose father teaches sailing and ocean navigation, has been training to smash the record since he was 12.

The pair set out in identical Contessa 32ft yachts, Seb's called Reflection and Ian's called Xixia.

Earlier this week, Seb said: "The whales are pretty unnerving but it's the rig problems that are much more fundamental to the race.

"My priority is now to keep my mast standing and to get to the finish as fast as I can without pushing the boat too hard."

Ian said: "What really impresses me is how he has dealt with some major rig problems and is still out there batting.

"However, the race is not over until one or other of us crosses the finish line and even if Seb comes in after me, he will still set a world record as the youngest sailor ever to race across the Atlantic single-handed."