Social workers try to stop girl, 13, sailing round world

Dutch child protection agents urged a court yesterday to stop a 13-year-old girl from pursuing her dream of becoming the youngest person ever to sail around the world solo. Social workers want to strip Laura Dekkers' parents, who support their daughter's plans, of parental rights and have her declared a ward of the court to stop the girl from setting sail.

"It means that her parents will temporarily lose the right to make any decisions concerning their child,'' court spokesman Paul van Daalen said. Laura and her father Dick Dekker were present for the hearing behind closed doors, he said. A children's judge in Utrecht in the central Netherlands was expected to rule this week, the spokesman said.

Born on a yacht off the New Zealand coast during a seven-year world trip by her parents, Laura plans to become the youngest ever sailor to navigate around the world in her 8.3-metre-long Hurley 800 named Guppy, financed by sponsors.



The slender, blonde girl who reportedly lives with her father on a yacht in the central Netherlands, hopes to achieve this feat in two years and continue her schooling through internet correspondence.

"Since I was 10 years old, I've known that I would like to sail around the world,'' she has told Dutch television. "I want simply to learn about the world and to live freely.'' Her father approached authorities in July for an exemption for Laura from obligatory schooling. The request was refused.

In a recent written report to parliament, education deputy minister Marja van Bijsterveldt-Vliegenthart said "a solo voyage around the world would not be in the best interests of the child''.