Dekker Completes Circumnavigation

Laura Dekker, 16 years and four months old, arrived at the Eastern Caribbean island of St. Martin on Saturday aboard her 38-ft Jeanneau Gin Fizz Guppy to become the youngest person to complete a solo circumnavigation. Dekker had wanted to start her adventure at age 13, but youth protection authorities in The Netherlands began a 10-month legal battle that delayed the start of her trip and forced her to acquire a larger and better-equipped boat. Still bitter about the government’s action, Dekker says she’ll perhaps move to New Zealand, where she was born aboard a boat to parents who split up long ago.

Jessica Watson of Australia had previously set the mark for the youngest solo circumnavigator with the S&S 34 Ella’s Pink Lady, having gone around just a few months short of her 17th birthday. The Watson and Dekker circumnavigations are apples and oranges. Watson sailed nonstop via the much rougher Southern Ocean, and completed the trip in 210 days. Dekker never did a longer passage than three weeks, stopped frequently, sailed a less arduous course, and took 361 days to finish (518 days, if you count the time it took to make her way from The Netherlands to St. Martin). This is not to denigrate what Dekker has accomplished, but simply to note that Watson faced a much greater challenge. Nevertheless, neither Dekker nor Watson will find their names in the World Speed Sailing Record Council roster or the Guinness Book of World Records. Both record-keeping organizations are declining to maintain age-based records for sailing.

Authorities in The Netherlands were quick to commend Dekker on her bravery, skill and perseverance, but insisted they had been correct to intervene. "If Laura had drowned, we would be accused of not having done enough to protect her," said an official from the Bureau of Youth. She added that it’s possible that Dekker made it around because they required her to sail a larger, more robust and better-equipped boat.

Just as we like to think that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, we like to think that we can both salute Dekker’s accomplishment, but still object to age-based records based on principle. The history of people reaching personal peaks and gaining fame at a young age has been checkered at best. We wish Miss Dekker every happiness in the world.