Youngest Solo-Circumnavigator Laura Dekker
Citizen of the World, Child of the Sea: For teenager Laura Dekker, being at home and around other kids wouldn’t cut it. Staying out there would.
I don’t like record-setting attempts because, what with the obligatory hype and hubris, it becomes all about us, not the mountain, the sky, or the sea. In any event, meaningful records are getting harder to achieve.
I get even more uncomfortable when the attemptees are too young to make a mature and informed assessment of the risks versus the rewards. In Robin Lee Graham’s account of his attempt to be the youngest person to solo-circumnavigate, Dove, he describes a deep and dangerous sense of isolation during a formative time in his life when being surrounded by family and friends was so terribly important. From Tania Aebi’s Maiden Voyage, one gets the sense that the dream of being the youngest to circumnavigate the globe was perhaps more her father’s than her own.
Because of this, I was, at first, hesitant to write about the youngest solo-circumnavigator of record, Laura Dekker. But when she sailed right into my home harbor in New Zealand, I felt compelled to go down and see who this child of the sea really was.
The short of it? I came, I saw, she conquered. Not because she’s pretty, friendly, and bright but because I realized that, although she’s a scant 16 years old, we’re kindred spirits who share a love of the world’s oceans and the free life afloat.
“Most of the young people trying for this record see it only as a way to get fame and money,” she said. “Me, I just love sailing and the sea, and this was a good way to go out and get plenty of both.”
Dekker was born in New Zealand while her Dutch father and German mother were sailing around the world; she holds all three passports. Until she was 5 years old, she knew nothing but the sea. Things didn’t change much upon the family’s return to the Netherlands. At 6, she was given an Optimist dinghy and immediately exceeded the design brief by setting sail alone for alarmingly open waters. At 10, she graduated into a Hurley 700, a tight little pocket cruiser on which she sailed the Waddenzee and the North Sea, developing some serious offshore experience.
In 2009, then 13 years old, she sailed it alone from the Netherlands to England. The disapproving English authorities demanded that her father fly over to join her before they would issue clearance for her return trip.
In August of that year, she announced her plans from her residence, in the city of Wijk bij Duurstede, to sail singlehanded around the world on a newly acquired 38-foot Jeanneau Gin Fizz named Guppy. Despite having both her parents’ permission and support, the local child-welfare office objected. The Dutch Council for Child Care sued for shared custody with the parents, won, and immediately forbade the voyage.
Enter the world media, which was at first predominantly skeptical, if not downright critical, of her parents and plans. But accompanied by photos of a petite girl at the helm, the story made good copy.
A long and acrimonious legal battle followed. The Dekkers won back their custodial rights only to face yet another hurdle in the form of a law mandating that any captain sailing alone in Dutch waters be at least 16 years of age, effectively postponing her attempt until the entire exercise was rendered moot. Her father circumvented all this by sailing with Laura to Gibraltar, where no such restrictions existed. Frustrated with the delays, she began her record attempt from there on August 21, 2010. She was then 14 years old.
Although a simple cruising boat, Guppy was strong, had a manageable ketch rig, roller furling, and offered the added protection of a deep center cockpit. She left with all the appropriate equipment and technologies, including an Iridium tracking system.
Her support team of family and friends originally planned to meet her 14 times en route, but due to financial constraints, this was reduced to five.
