Laura Dekker completed her solo circumnavigation of the globe on her 38-foot yacht, “Guppy”, covering over 27,000 nautical miles, becoming the youngest solo circumnavigator ever on the planet ! Rather than finish at any of the ports at home, she chose to end it at Island of Sint Maarten in the Dutch Antilles, from where she had set sail, chiefly because she feels it would be ” very difficult for me to return to the Netherlands. I will complete my solo circumnavigation on the island of Sint Maarten.” The difficulty being the legal restrictions brought about by the Netherlands Bureau of Youth Care, wrangling and general outrage that preceded “letting a 14-year old girl set sail, at sea on a 38-foot yacht all alone”.
Though she has completed the voyage, covering 27,000 nautical miles, her record would be “unofficial”, as Guinness’ World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council have decided they will no longer recognize records for “youngest” sailors to avoid encouraging dangerous attempts. Also, compared to the feat achieved by Jessica Watson ( whom she set out to beat in the first place ) who did it uninterrupted, during her seven-month quest to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, Laura Dekker accomplished this in her own time, with ample breaks and replenishment of supplies, sailing for not more than 3 weeks without a break.
She is already planning to settle down in New Zealand, far from the maddening strictures that she felt has been imposed on her by the Dutch authorities, as she was born in a boat in its chartered waters. The regulations have been put in place, according to the Bureau of Youth Care, “provide advice on raising children and, when needed, guide parents and children into other areas of the youth care system,” are also profuse with their praise on the triumph of Laura Dekker. According to Caroline Vink, from the Netherlands Youth Institute, “We have a duty to investigate. The law says you must stay in school until you are 16. We never meant to make her life difficult, only to look out for her safety. In the end she has shown extreme strength of character both before and, of course, during her adventure.”
Now that Laura has “unofficially” beat Jessica Watson’s accomplishment, she is busy writing a book and working on a documentary film about her life at sea due to be released later this year.
Laura Dekker completes solo sail around world.
