Jessica Watson is a sixteen year old Australian who is in the midst of a solo sailing voyage. She is trying to be the youngest to circumnavigate the world.
Abby Sunderland is an American who just had a birthday. On October 19th, Abby Sunderland reached sixteen. She too wants to sail around the planet by herself. And in Europe is even a younger teenager with similar dreams. Laura Dekker is thirteen.
This record of the youngest to sail around the world is stirring controversy:
“… The growing trend of young sailors like Watson and Dekker hoping to cirumnavigate (sic) the globe is fuelling the debate around whether teenagers should be allowed to sail solo around the world.
“It’s a tricky question,” double Olympic sailing gold medalist Shirley Robertson told CNN, “because sailing has always had that sense of adventure to it and it is a sport for mavericks. And some people are just made for that. But at such a young age how can you know that the person is ready?”
link: Should teenagers be allowed to sail solo around the world?
It should be noted that, at thirteen, most country would not allow a person to drive a car alone. Amid these debates, perhaps there is one young girl who should be remembered. Jessica Dubroff attempted to set a record flying across the country. She failed and did not survive the attempt. Jessica Dubroff was seven years old.
Catherine Forsythe
