Dutch Girl to Sail Around World

Not long after 16-year-old Abby Sunderland’s attempt to become the youngest person to sail around the world went awry in the Indian Ocean, a 14-year-old Dutch girl is preparing to do the same. Laura Dekker’s mother and a Dutch court originally objected to her plans, inspiring her to run away. Now, she has approval from her mother and the court, even though the Council for Child Protection in the Netherlands begged the court to block her trip. Dekker is hoping to complete the trip before September 2012, when she will be 17. (The record is held by a 17-year-old, the 16-year-old Jessica Watson unofficially made the voyage, too.)