Teenage solo sailor Laura Dekker completes round-world voyage

Laura Dekker, the 16-year old girl attempting to become the youngest person to sail round the world single-handed arrived on the Caribbean island of St Maarten on Saturday after completing her trip.


Dekker sailed into the harbour at around 20.00 Dutch time, surrounded by a small flotilla of boats. She was greeted by family and friends on the quayside, the Telegraaf reported.
‘There were moments where I was like, ‘What the hell am I doing out here?,’ but I never wanted to stop,’ AP quoted her as saying. ‘It’s a dream, and I wanted to do it.’
Laura left on her 27,000 nautical mile trip from the island in January 2011 ago after a long legal battle with social workers. She had originally wanted to start the trip when she was 14 but was made a ward of court after judges said the trip was too risky and she was not properly prepared.
Although she is the youngest person to complete the voyage, it was not non-stop and at one point Dekker returned to the Netherlands to visit the Hiswa boat show.
The Guinness Book of Records does not recognise the trip. It has stopped recording ‘youngest in’ categories in an effort to stop youngsters taking unnecessary risks.
More on this
Laura Dekker: stubborn, self absorbed and a devil of a sailor

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