Dutch sailor Laura Dekker was born in 20 September 1995 in New Zealand, on a boat, during a seven-year sailing trip by her parents.
At the age of 13, she announced she wanted to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe single-handed (single-handed sailing or solo sailing is sailing with only one crewmember). The Dutch authorities objected to her plans and she fought a 10-month court battle to follow her dream.
In 21 August 2010, she departed from Gibraltar and set sail on her epic journey in a French-built 12.3-metre (40 ft) two-masted Jeanneau Gin Fizz ketch, which she named Guppy (same as her all earlier boats).
27.000 nautical miles and 518 days later, Laura successfully completed the solo circumnavigation, arriving in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten in January 2012, – breaking the world record of the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe alone.
Laura was then only 16 years and four months of age.
“I still don’t fully understand, I just always knew it was what I wanted to do. I knew there was a world out there so why sit in school? School, modern life, in fact, can give you the idea that you have to do set things. It sends you down predetermined paths that you don’t necessarily have to follow.”
– Laura Dekker
