Dutch Sailor Laura Dekker Launches World Voyage Via Portugal

Updated Aug. 4, 2010: Laura Dekker waved goodbye to about 100 supporters as she hopped into Guppy with her dad Dick Dekker, who will leave her in Portugal. Unlike others who have set sail on a trip around the world, Laura Dekker will be stopping in ports along the way to meet up with her family and do boat repairs. This makes her trip different from previous global journeys.

If she completes the voyage, any record she claims will be unofficial and probably challenged. The Guinness’ World Records and the World Sailing Speed Record Council no longer recognize records for “youngest” sailors, in an attempt to avoid encouraging overly optimistic youths who might be backed by ambitious parents from seeking a world record.

Written July 27, 2010: Dutch sailor Laura Dekker’s voyage around the world in her 38-ft yacht Guppy could begin in two weeks from Portugal, where she will test her two-masted yacht before formally embarking on her voyage.

“I was so happy I almost jumped into the water,” Dekker told reporters at the harbor where her yacht is moored alongside the boat where she lives with her father.  via CBS News

The Dutch court ruled yesterday on a request from the government’s umbrella childcare agency, the Council for Child Protection, to extend the guardianship order for another year to prevent Dekker from setting sail. 

Even the youth protection group looking after Dekker’s education and preparation had disagreed with the Council and said she was ready to sail.  Some reports allude to the possibility of an appeal, but ” child care council spokesman Richard Bakker confirms there will be no appeal to the decision.

Watching the video, it appears that a predominantly three-women female court released Laura Dekker to follow her dreams.

Over the past year, Laura Dekker has obtained a bigger boat and equipped it with modern navigation and safety equipment. She has studied everything from how to stitch her own wounds to how to cope with sleep deprivation and put out fires onboard her 11.5-meter (38-foot) twin-mast ketch. 

If Dekker succeeds in completing her voyage before Sept. 20, 2012, she would beat 16-year-old Australian Jessica Watson in becoming the youngest to sail solo around the world. Dekker currently plans to complete her four days ahead of her 17th birthday. 

Laura Dekker on Her Yacht Guppy Video

Watson spent 210 days maneuvering her 34-foot (10-meter) yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady, around the world, encountering raging storms and 40-foot (12-meter) waves along the way. 

In June, the world watched the rescue of 16-year-old Abby Sunderland of California from her solo trip after a rogue wave snapped her mast in the southern Indian Ocean. 

Laura Dekker says she will be sailing a better boat than Sunderland and has plotted a longer voyage, in an errort to catch the best weather. The young Dutch woman who has captured worldwide attention and support for her journey, says she’s not afraid of the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, but has an alternate plan ready. 

“They don’t attack yachts so much,” she said. “If you are in a convoy you should be OK.” 

Anne of Carversville will be following Laura’s journey around the world.

More writing on Laura:

Protective Custody Ends for Laura Dekker