Dutch teenager,16, has become the youngest person to sail around the world. A cause for celebration or an issue for child welfare?

[Beaglefox4]

At the age of 16, Dutch teenager Laura Dekker has become the youngest person to single-handedly sail around the world.

Dekker completed her year-long journey to cheers from her family and supporters at the Caribbean island of St Maarten on Saturday, proud of her record-breaking feat.

But Guinness World Records has refused to make the achievement official, having scrapped the category for youngest solo sailor after Dekker's original bid to make the journey caused controversy three years ago.

Courts in the Netherlands initially refused to allow her to go on the voyage, fearing for her mental and physical wellbeing, and she was put into state care for two months. But Decker won her battle and set sail from St Maarten on 20 January last year.

Read more: www.theweek.co.uk/people-news/44618/dutch-teen-sails-world-not-everyone-celebrating#ixzz1kILAjf7e

But she did it, so well done her!!

well done. she could be in the army at 16!

In The Netherlands you need to be 17 to join the army, and you cannot leave school before the age of 17 either. Which is why the courts were reluctant to let her go. She had not yet finished school and was not classed as an adult.

Actually, I think the legal school leaving age in The Netherlands is 18.

Did she have another boat shadowing her quite close by or was she truely alone? I vaguley remember reading about an Australian girl who didn't succeed in her attempt and she had a support boat nearby.

bearing in mind that she was actually born on a boat, and spent her first 7 years sailing round the world with her parents, I don't think it's such a big deal - she obviously know what it involved!

I say well done! Wonder what her next challenge will be, though, having already accomplished this at 16?

Well done here! Thats more than I'd achieved by the time I was 16!

It's not really a child welfare issue that requires new legislation, is it? Unless we can expect a sudden upsurge in teenage global adventurers.

I would say it is a cause for celebration: without a few determined eccentrics, life would be very dull.

Well done to her, it is a huge achievement! And it is nice actually to hear of young people having the dedication and commitment to do something like this.

I don't think it is a child welfare issue.

I suspect she has been sailing for many years and has a lot of experience and is better able to make the decision of whether it would be safe or not than the people who tried to stop her. I wonder how much sailing experience they have.

Cause of celebration, I'd say.

The child. according to the report has been sailing solo from age 6. I think after 10 years experience, plus her first 6 years spent on board sailing boats, she is in a far better position to make the decision than most court officials.

However what is a child welfare issue imo is the fact that the Government put her in care for two months for wanting to do this! That is a far bigger problem imo.