Girl, 14, OK to sail solo around the world

Laura Dekker, the Dutch girl who won a 10-month legal battle Tuesday in her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world, was born on a similar sea voyage 14 years ago.

"Sailing is my life," the bubbly, blonde teenager writes on her website, sprinkled with photos of her yacht, sailing instruments and images of the sea.

"As soon as I get on my boat, something inside me changes. Then I really feel what living is."

A Dutch court Tuesday denied a request by child protection authorities to place her under their supervision for a further year until August 2011 to stop her imminent departure.

The path has now been cleared for an adventure that could begin within two weeks. Presiding Judge S. Kuypers said the decision and responsibility for Laura now “lies with her parents.”

Her father on Tuesday brushed off as “nonsense” criticism that he was pushing Dekker to do the trip.  

A clearly elated Dekker later addressed journalists from around the world with remarkable ease at the harbour of Den Osse, in the southern Netherlands, where she lives on a boat with her father, Dick, and dog, Spot.

"I simply want to see the world, different cultures, and to acquire life experience," the slender, vivacious girl said.

"I like to travel. I don't like staying in one place for too long."

Dekker was born in New Zealand during the third of a seven-year, around-the-world sea journey and spent the first four years of her life at sea with her parents.

"I was four when I first stood at the helm on my own," she writes.

She set sail on her first, six-week solo holiday to the northern Dutch province of Friesland at the age of 11.

Her boat, an 11.5 metre-long (about 38 feet) jeaneau gin fizz ketch, is named Guppy.

"This boat is my second home. Guppy means everything to me," Dekker says on her website.

She describes herself as a sailor "first of all", and says that other people perceive her as stubborn.

"I follow my own head. And if I'm determined to do something, then I'll make sure that I make it happen."

In tenacious style, Dekker fought the state's attempts to kill her dream, addressing the courts' concerns one by one such as learning first aid and sleep management techniques.

She plans to continue her formal education via the internet while at sea.

Shortly after the authorities thwarted her initial departure last year, the headstrong youngster ran away to the Dutch Caribbean island territory of Sint Maarten (St Martin) in December. Police had to escort her back home.

She says she understands people's concern about her age, "but I would like to show other young people what you can achieve if you really have a dream".

Dekker describes her hobbies as windsurfing and snowboarding.

She does not watch much television, and when she does it would be a film "involving water".

"When I'm not surfing or sailing, I am to be found at the harbour working on my boat," she says.

She is an avid sailing magazine reader, and "I like Donald Duck".

Dekker says she has found the media attention in recent months hard to understand.

"I couldn't believe that everybody is interested in me," she writes.

"I'm just a person with a dream."

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