Dutch girl sailing dream torpedoed by authorities

Laura Dekker, the young Dutch girl that had planned to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe, has had her hopes dashed by authorities in the Netherlands, leaving her to dream about what might have been.

Dutch child protection services have put a stop to the plan, overriding her parents’ wishes, saying that the voyage is too dangerous for the young girl to undertake alone. Dekker and her 26 foot yacht, Guppy, will not be making the trip.

The decision, which came at the end of last week, has been a devastating blow for Dekker, whose life is sailing.

“My parents have sailed around the world, they know what can happen and that it’s not always fun, but because I want to do it so much they agreed and supported me,” she said to Dutch TV earlier in the week.

She added: “They’ve taken good care of me for 13 years, so I don’t know why people suddenly think they are not doing a good job.”

The young sailor avoided the hearing where the decision was announced. Due to the toll that the constant media attention had taken, she chose to spend the day on Guppy instead.

Thanks to news.bbc.co.uk for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.