Laura Dekker, who had gone there a year Jan. 20, 2011, Saint-Martin, landed at 15:00 local time at the Yacht Club located in the Dutch part of the island.
Laura Dekker, who had gone there a year Jan. 20, 2011, Saint-Martin, landed at 15:00 local time at the Yacht Club located in the Dutch part of the island.”
Laura Dekker (born 20 September 1995) is a Dutch sailor. In 2009, she announced her plan to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed. A Dutch court stepped in, due to the objections of the local authorities, and prevented Dekker from departing while under shared custody of both her parents. In July 2010, a Dutch family court ended this custody arrangement, and the record breaking attempt finally began on 21 August 2010. Dekker successfully completed the solo circumnavigation in an 11.5 metre (38 ft) two-masted ketch, arriving in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, on 21 January 2012
Early life
Dekker was born in the city of Whangarei, New Zealand during a seven-year trip by her parents. Her father, Dick Dekker, is Dutch and her mother, Babs Müller, is German. Dekker has Dutch, German, and New Zealand citizenship. Her parents divorced in 2002. She lived with her father after the separation of her parents, and her younger sister Kim went to live with her mother.
Dekker spent the first two years of her life at sea. At six, Dekker owned her first boat, an Optimist, and learned to sail it herself. The next boat she received at the age of ten was a Hurley 700. She named it Guppy and used it for solo-sailing during her multiweek-long summer vacations; her trips included the Wadden Sea and the North Sea. In May 2009, Dekker made a solo-crossing from Maurik, Netherlands to Lowestoft, England where local authorities requested her father to come and accompany her on her return voyage. Her father, who didn’t even know that she had gone, responded that if she could sail there by herself, she will also be able to sail back by herself.
2010–2011 solo circumnavigation
Dekker sailed from Den Osse, Netherlands, on 4 August 2010, headed for Portugal. This segment did not constitute part of the solo circumnavigation, as her father was on board to coach her and test the new boat. The published plan was that the solo voyage would commence from Lisbon. Instead, Dekker and her father sailed to Portimão, arriving on 15 August. She sailed with others from Portimão to Gibraltar on 18–20 August, because according to Portuguese law, she was too young to be formally qualified to captain her ship.
2010–2012 Solo circumnavigation progress
Departed Gibraltar on 21 August 2010.
Arrived at Lanzarote on 25 August.
Stayed in the Canary Islands for several weeks because of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Departed Gran Canaria on 10 November for Cape Verde.
Commenced Atlantic crossing from Cape Verde to Sint Maarten a distance of 2,200 nautical miles (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) on 2 December; finished when she reached Simpson Bay Lagoon on 19 December; having encountered calm weather on this leg of her journey, used the engine for two days in order to arrive on time.
Served as crew member for ten days on the tall ship Stad Amsterdam, departing from St. Maarten on 5 January 2011.
Departed Sint Maarten on 20 January; visited the islands of Îles des Saintes, Dominica, Bonaire and San Blas Islands, all located in the Caribbean.
Flew home on 27 February; stayed to 10 March to speak at a boat show and other places, now a figure of considerable media attention in the Netherlands.
Completed the passage of the Panama Canal on 11 April 2011; visited Pearl Islands thereafter.
Crossed the Equator on the evening of 25 April; reached the Galápagos Islands the following day.
Departed the Galápagos Islands on 7 May and arrived at Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands on 25 May, having sailed about 2,960 nautical miles (5,480 km; 3,410 mi) in 18 days, the longest leg so far; encountered open sea only, with no islands near the route.
Sailed from Marquesas Islands to Tahiti between 1 and 8 June, a journey of 770 nautical miles (1430 km); demanding leg of the journey with shifting winds, many reefs, ships, and little sleep.
Visited Moorea and Bora-Bora, and then sailed the 1400 nm (2530 km) journey to Vava’u, Tonga in 12 days, where she arrived 8 July.
Arrived 17 July 2011 at Suva, Fiji, having sailed for four days, and on 30 July at Port Vila, Vanuatu after having sailed for three days.
Sailed from Vanuatu on 8 August, heading for Darwin, Australia; arrived in Darwin on 25 August after one of the toughest legs of her journey, which included passage through Torres Strait, filled with reefs, islands and large ships; father visited her in Darwin, their first meeting since she had visited the Netherlands in March 2011; together, undertook a major overhaul of the boat; celebrated Dekker’s 16th birthday.
Departed Darwin on 25 September, heading west; published information about this leg of her journey in her blog following about two weeks delay, because of security concerns regarding Indian Ocean pirates.
Sailed to Durban, South Africa, arriving 12 November, after 47 days at sea non-stop; reported wind varying from dead calm to hard wind that often shifted direction; sometimes encountered rough waves (distance Darwin–Durban is 5,540 nautical miles (10,260 km; 6,380 mi)).
Arrived at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 18 November.
Passed Cape Agulhas, South Africa, on 26 November, southernmost point on the African continent, and southernmost point of her journey; sailed thereafter a northerly course for the first time on her journey from the Netherlands.
Passed the Cape of Good Hope on 27 November in rough weather; reached Cape Town the same day; father and journalists and the boats of the Volvo Ocean Race met her there.
Sailed from Cape Town on 12 December, heading northwest.
Reached the longitude of her unofficial starting point in the Netherlands on 20 December; had already crossed all longitudes in the course of her circumnavigation; faced another 4800 nautical miles for her official completion.
Arrived in Simpson Bay on Sint Maarten on 21 January 2012 at approximately 3 pm local time after a non-stop journey of 5,600 nautical miles (10,400 km; 6,400 mi) from Cape Town, thus completing her full circumnavigation of the world, at the age of 16 years, 123 days.
Maidentrip (2013), mostly shot by Dekker and directed by Jillian Schlesinger, is an 82 minute documentary about this trip.
