Dutch sailor girl set to leave on solo world trip
A 14-year-old Dutch girl will set off on Saturday on a controversial attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, her representatives said.
Laura Dekker's ambition of completing the yearlong trip has fueled a global debate over the wisdom of allowing young sailors to take on the tremendous risks of sailing the high seas alone.
The girl who grew up on a sailboat faces a host of challenges including favorable winds to send her across the Atlantic Ocean from her jumping off point in a marina in the resort city of Portimao at the southwestern tip of Portugal.
On Friday, seas were so calm that the ocean looked like a mirror, and Laura was still out in her boat, performing last-minute tests on her red-hulled 38-foot (11.5-metre) yacht named "Guppy."
Hordes of television crews, reporters and photographers from around the world descended on Portimao yesterday to cover the departure. They gave up on their stakeout after her yacht did not return to port after dark.
Marijke Schaaphok, the director of Masmedia, a company filming the trip with remote cameras mounted on Laura's boat, told The Associated Press that the girl was expected to return to port and depart at an undetermined time on Saturday.
"She has her father and her manager on board and as long as they are on board there's not an official start," Schaaphok said.
A court last month released Laura from the guardianship of Dutch child protection agencies who had tried to block her voyage because of fears about her safety and psychological health.
But Friday afternoon, trip manager Peter Klarenbeek said Laura was ready to go, and that a ceremony would happen on Saturday just before the departure.
"We are testing equipment now and I can't give a departure time, but it will be obvious when she leaves. We'll be on the dockside to say goodbye," Klarenbeek said from the yacht while at sea with the girl.
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