LaurDekker is expected to reach the Caribbean island around 3 p.m. local time on Saturday. Then she will have successfully completed her trip with her "Guppy", a Jeanneau Gin Fizz 37 - and will go down in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest solo circumnavigator. She had dreamed of it when she was ten.
She took off from Gibraltar in August 2010. Since then she has been on the road for over 500 days. Her journey took her first across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and then through the Panama Canal to the South Seas. This was followed by stage stops in Australia, among others, before crossing the Indian Ocean to South Africa. From there she finally left for the last big final stage back to the Caribbean.
Dekker made a conscious decision not to end her trip, which had caused a stir around the world, in the Netherlands. The youth protection authorities at home had initially placed too many obstacles in her way. The sailor had to endure numerous legal disputes before she was allowed to start, with a series of school requirements.
Dekkers route around the world
And at the end of their trip, the supervisory authorities in their home country speak up again in a media-effective manner. They ordered - so far unsuccessfully - the father LaurDekkers, dthese should have neglected her schoolwork during her trip. Whether the current date was a coincidence or was chosen deliberately by the authorities in order to cast the conclusion of Dekker's trip in a negative light is a matter of controversy in the neighboring country, as at the beginning of the project. The majority disapprove of the officials' actions.
If nothing unexpected happens, LaurDekker will take over from the Australian JessicWatson tomorrow. She had already successfully completed a solo circumnavigation of the world in May 2010 - and even non-stop. Shortly after her, the American Abby Sunderland failed with a similar project. She is the sister of Zac Sunderland, who also previously circumnavigated the world when he was under 18.
Although Dekker is supposed to have a big welcome party in honor of St. Maarten, she will have to forego an official title. The World Speed Sailing Record Council, which is responsible for all kinds of sailing records, had deleted the youngest category as a result of the heated discussions about the "youth mania" that had flared up. The entry in the Guinness Book of Records should be Dekker but sure.