Court allows Dutch teenager Laura Dekker to set sail
Despite their application to extend the supervision order over 14 year old Laura Decker, the Child Protection Council of Utrecht in the centre Netherlands have learned that they lost the battle to prevent the youngsters voyage.
Laura wants to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world and must complete the two-year trip before she turns 17 in September 2012 to break the record.
After running away to the Dutch Antilles last December where she was discovered and returned home, a court ruled that Laura could remain with her father despite his support for her plan to sail solo around the world.
The experienced sailor was born on a yacht off the coast of New Zealand during a seven-year world trip. She had her own yacht by the age of six and began sailing solo when she was 10. Her father, Dick Dekker, supports her attempt at the record, but her mother had in the past expressed concerns. Laura is planning to spend about two years aboard her 8m (26ft) boat, Guppy, to break the record set in May by Jessica Watson, 16, of Australia.
But the dangers she faces were highlighted by the rescue last month of another 16-year-old, Abby Sunderland from California. The mast on her boat snapped, leaving her stranded for two days alone on the high seas until she was rescued by a fishing boat and brought to the Indian Ocean island of Reunion.
What are your thoughts? Do you think there should be a minimum age at where young people can take on these types of challenges, or do you think they ought to be free to do what they want? Post your comments in our forum.
Visit Laura’s website here : http://www.lauradekker.nl/English/Home.html
