1. Laura Dekker successfully completed the solo circumnavigation in a 12.4-metre two-masted ketch named Guppy, arriving in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten, 518 days later at the age of 16.
25 Facts About Laura Dekker
1. 2.
Laura Dekker was born in the city of Whangarei, New Zealand, during a seven-year sailing trip by her parents.
3.
Laura Dekker lived with her father after the separation of her parents, and her younger sister Kim went to live with her mother.
4.
Laura Dekker spent the first five years of her life at sea and sailed often with her father after the family's return to the Netherlands.
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Laura Dekker spent the next eight weeks preparing Guppy for that trip.
6.
Laura Dekker sailed to the coast and arrived in Maassluis Saturday afternoon.
7.
Laura Dekker's father responded that she could sail back on her own.
8.
Laura Dekker returned her to her boat and then flew home.
9.
Laura Dekker then planned either to go past Somalia to the Mediterranean, or around Africa, should piracy become a serious concern.
10.
The original plan called for Laura Dekker to be met at some locations by family, which would help her along difficult spots such as the Panama Canal.
11.
Laura Dekker planned to avoid the stormy Roaring Forties, although the South Africa route gave her at least one big storm.
12.
Laura Dekker's education was conducted through the Wereldschool, an educational institution that provided her with material for self-learning.
13.
Laura Dekker still did so, with the effect that the police required her father to come and sail the boat home together with her.
14.
On 18 December 2009, a member of Laura Dekker's family reported her missing to the police.
15.
Laura Dekker tried to correct this by saying that she had not stopped studying totally and would continue her academic studies after returning to the Netherlands.
16.
On 14 October 2011, Laura Dekker was nominated for the Conny van Rietschoten Trophy, a very prestigious Dutch sailing award, in the ocean sailing category.
17.
Laura Dekker used a French-built 12.3-metre two-masted Jeanneau Gin Fizz ketch, which she named Guppy, same as her earlier boats.
18.
Laura Dekker sailed from Den Osse, Netherlands, on 4 August 2010, headed for Portugal.
19.
Maidentrip, mostly shot by Laura Dekker and directed by Jillian Schlesinger, is an 82-minute documentary video about this trip.
20.
On 20 August 2018, Laura Dekker announced that Guppy was wrecked on a reef in the Pacific Ocean by LifeSail during its trip to Los Angeles.
21.
LifeSail released a public statement in March 2019 with a timeline of events that stated Laura Dekker originally donated Guppy as a requirement to receive funds from a third party.
22.
Laura Dekker blames LifeSail and Matt Schulz, alleging they broke their contract by sailing the vessel with inexperienced crew and mooring in unsafe locations.
23.
Laura Dekker claimed compensation for the loss of Guppy, as the donation contract with LifeSail specified that in the case of a total loss all insurance compensation would go to her, less any value added by LifeSail.
24.
On 28 March 2015, when she was 19, Laura Dekker married Daniel Thielmann, resident in New Zealand.
25.
Laura Dekker is in a relationship with boat builder Sander Vogelenzang, with whom she has a son born in 2018.