16 Year-Old Sailer Missing In Indian Ocean

[Stofsk]

Search crew makes contact with teen sailor

Updated 16 minutes ago

Crew on a Qantas plane say they have made contact with a solo sailor who is in trouble in the southern Indian Ocean.

American adventurer Abby Sunderland, 16, activated two distress signals last night and an international rescue operation has been launched involving Australian and French authorities.

A spokesman for Qantas says an Airbus aircraft has been searching for the teenage sailor in an area about 2,000 nautical miles off the West Australian coast.

It arrived in the search area about 3:30pm (AEST) and only has enough fuel to remain there for two hours.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says Australia will provide all the assistance necessary for the operation.

"As all Australians would want us to do discharging properly our search and rescue obligations, we received a request from La Reunion authorities to assist in a search and rescue and we will do whatever is required," Mr Smith said.

Australian, US and French search and rescue authorities are coordinating several ships in the area, but the nearest ship is not expected to reach the rescue zone until about noon tomorrow.

The Airbus crew will try to make radio contact with the teenager to advise her when the ship is due to reach her.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) spokeswoman Carly Lusk says conditions in the search area are poor, with 90-kilometre-per-hour winds and a six-metre swell.

She says the signals coming from the two beacons Sunderland has activated - one attached to her body and another attached to her boat - suggest she is still in the boat.

'Badly planned'

The man who fitted out Jessica Watson's yacht says Sunderland's boat is not designed for a solo trip around the world.

Veteran yachtsman Marty Still sailed Watson's yacht for 17 years, notching up 30,000 nautical miles in that time.

He says Sunderland is sailing a type of boat known as an Open-40, which is made of carbon fibre and is designed to sail at its quickest downwind.

Mr Still says the boat is built for speed and it is difficult for it to be sailed by only one person.

"They're not really designed for general purpose sailing. I think there is a compromise for safety when they are sailed single-handed," he said.

Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan is also an experienced sailor and held the Australian record for solo circumnavigation of the world.

He says Abby Sunderland's trip was badly planned.

"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's just, it's foolhardy," he said.

"And the fact that her EPIRB went off attached to her life raft - I thought perhaps the raft had washed overboard and that may still be the case, but two EPIRB going off, it's a bit sinister to me."

Sunderland's father Laurence told ABC Local Radio he last spoke to his daughter during the night (Australian time), but lost contact with her during a satellite phone call.

He says his daughter's yacht may have flipped.

"She definitely had her cage rattled last night, but after dealing with the engine issue and getting things up and running, everything seemed to be fine," he said.

Mr Sunderland expressed his thanks for the Australian search and rescue effort.

[Broomstick]

Good news, that - let's hope she makes it ashore safely.

[Stofsk]

article's been updated, aussies to the rescue

Apparently she's safe, boat's fine (ie hasn't capsized) and she is either in the process of being picked up or has been picked up.

[FSTargetDrone]

"I don't know what she's doing in the Southern Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it's just, it's foolhardy," he said.

I trust the US media will pick up on this and other similar quotes.

Poor choice of boat for this endeavor, bad time of the year to do it...

She's lucky.

[The Duchess of Zeon]

Some more information:

CNN actually being useful.

CNN) -- Australian authorities on Friday made contact with a 16-year-old American girl who triggered a distress signal while attempting to sail solo around the world.

But it could be a day before a French fishing vessel pulls Abby Sunderland and her boat, Wild Eyes, to shore, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.

"She's in the boat. The boat's seaworthy. It's not taking on water, and she's equipped for the conditions down there, we believe," said Mick Kinley of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

Sunderland triggered the distress signal Thursday during rough seas.

"She's been dismasted. The rigging's over the side and in the water," Kinley told reporters Friday.

He said Wild Eyes was in the Southern Ocean about 2,000 miles southwest of Perth, Australia, when rescuers contacted her Friday.

"That's a long way from any merchant shipping," he said. "We're just fortunate that the French fishing vessel was in that region."

Family spokesman Christian Pinkston said Sunderland communicated with rescuers via marina radio.

"We know that Australian search and rescue has contacted her ... and she is alive and well," Pinkston said early Friday morning.

Sunderland's parents, Laurence and Marianne, wrote on her blog: "We have just heard from the Australian Search and Rescue. The plane arrived on the scene moments ago. Wild Eyes is upright but her rigging is down. The weather conditions are abating. Radio communication was made and Abby reports that she is fine!

"We don't know much else right now. The French fishing vessel that was diverted to her location will be there in a little over 24 hours. Where they will take her or how long it will take we don't know."

Earlier Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority had taken over the search for Sunderland, noting the stormy seas that prompted her to activate her distress beacons had calmed.

"The weather is moderating. It is improving slightly," Carly Lusk of the AMSA said at the time. "Now, it's not perfect, but any improvement in the weather is a positive when you're looking at a search and rescue operation."

Sunderland's vessel is adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean some 2,000 miles east of Madagascar, 2,000 miles west of Australia and 500 miles north of the French Antarctic Islands.

Sunderland's family began scrambling to organize a search-and-rescue effort for her after they learned her emergency beacon was detected just an hour after they last spoke to her on Thursday, according to Jeff Casher, an engineer on her support team.

The government of Reunion -- a French island -- diverted a fishing boat toward her last known position, but it is not expected to reach the area until Saturday, Casher said. An Australian military ship, more than two days sail away, has also been dispatched, Casher said.

Electronic signals from the boat indicate it is drifting at just a mile per hour, which means it is still afloat but not under sail, Casher said.

Sunderland began her journey from Marina del Rey, California, on January 23 with the goal of sailing her 40-foot boat around the world without stopping. Mechanical troubles forced her to make two stops for repairs, including at Cape Town, South Africa, in May.

She has kept in touch with family and followers through a satellite telephone. Her website has published frequent blog updates, including one posted Wednesday.

"The last few days have (been) pretty busy out here," Sunderland wrote in her last blog entry. "I've been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts. With that front passing, the conditions were lighter today."

Sunderland is a "very determined" and "very capable sailor," Thomas said.

"She's pretty much unfazed by most everything, but she had been fatigued by this period of winds which she's been going through for several days now," he said.

When Abby's older brother Zac sailed around the world alone last year, with stops, he became the youngest person to ever do so at 17. Mike Perham of the United Kingdom, a younger 17-year-old, took over the distinction weeks later.

Last month, Australian Jessica Watson, days before her 17th birthday, claimed to have become the youngest person to have completed a non-stop, unassisted solo circumnavigation -- a mark held by then 18-year-old Jesse Martin of Australia since 1999.

However, sailing journalists have said -- and her team hasn't disputed -- that Watson's route was less than 21,600 orthodromic nautical miles, which is the length of the equator and the distance generally used for round-the-world sailing records.

Abby has been on a schedule to complete her global journey about two months before her 17th birthday, which is on October 19.

I take back my earlier comments that she shouldn't have been out there at her age (she shouldn't have been out there alone but then nobody should); anyone who can keep a dismasted 40 from capsizing in a Force 11 is a competent sailor, and her behaviour in undertaking the journey was no riskier than that of any other solo sailor (though it should be noted I oppose solo sailing in deep water in general, so that's not me saying it was wise of her to be there, I really want to emphasize that. Just no worse than any adult).

Once they've stepped a new mast in Reunion, where the French trawler rendezvousing with her tomorrow will most likely take her, I assume she'll continue the journey. Anyway, I assume a bunch of people will trash this post, but I've actually sailed, and anyone who can keep a 40 from capsizing in a Force 11 when it's been dismasted is a competent sailor of sound judgement. Of all the scenarios I considered, I badly underestimated this girl; I simply expected as a matter of course that she'd die if the yacht was dismasted and you had the mainmast slamming into the hull with every sea she took, causing more and more damage, and you must chop it and all the rigging fouling your hull away before it bashes a hole open that'll sink you in a heartbeat.

[PeZook]

Competent? She's freakin' badass, or has some intimate connection with Neptune himself.

I don't really get solo sailing, though. It's difficult and dangeorus, yes, but so is any sailing trip, even with a good crew. It seems to be a way to intentionally handicap yourself to see one can truly survive X-TREME (TM) hardships for little gain.

I have more respect for yacht skippers who have been sailing long and safe even with inexperienced crews than those who managed a round the world trip by themselves, despite the latter being more difficult due to sheer handicap a solo sailor is handing him/herself.

[Invictus ChiKen]

The parents should be locked up for child endangerment and heavily fined. For her actions the girl should never be placed in any history or record book and in addition laws should be passed to make sure this never happens again.

The reason for all of this is to discourage any other 16 year olds from doing this sort of thing and winning themselves a Darwin award. Thankfully the girl is alive and with any luck will be sent home.

[PeZook]

The parents should be locked up for child endangerment and heavily fined. For her actions the girl should never be placed in any history or record book and in addition laws should be passed to make sure this never happens again.

Uh, yeah, let's remove her from history and destroy her family and probably force her into a life of crime! That will show her, hurr hurr!

Based on the fact she survived a 11 storm, she's more than competent enough to sail on the ocean. Trying to do it by herself was reckless, but it doesn't warrant coming down on her and her family like ten tons of bricks.

Not to mention your idea is really impractical: how are you going to get every country on Earth to pass such a law because of one Australian teenager? Or make thousands of publishers across the globe not mention her anywhere ever?

[Sharp-kun]

At 16 here you can go off and get married etc.

If she's a competent sailor then good luck to her. If I were her father I wouldn't necessarily approve, but at that age I doubt I'd be able to stop her without either doing something potentially illegal (ie physically stopping her), or possibly ruining other aspects of her like (ie "I won't support you in Uni!") since she would be old enough to be responsible for herself legally.

I do think she should have had someone else with her though.

[Broomstick]

She may be a competent sailor, but she is NOT an adult. I still can't approve or condone this.

[Sharp-kun]

She may be a competent sailor, but she is NOT an adult. I still can't approve or condone this.

Legally she would be here (Scotland), assuming I'm remembering right. Certainly you get an adult passport at 16 amongst other things.

As I said, I don't really approve, but I don't know how much her parents could actually have done to stop her.

[PeZook]

At 16 here you can go off and get married etc.

If she's a competent sailor then good luck to her. If I were her father I wouldn't necessarily approve, but at that age I doubt I'd be able to stop her without either doing something potentially illegal (ie physically stopping her), or possibly ruining other aspects of her like (ie "I won't support you in Uni!") since she would be old enough to be responsible for herself legally.

I do think she should have had someone else with her though.

You could, for example...not pay for the yacht? Outfitting a boat is damn expensive ; There's no way she could've financed it herself without a sponsor. If she's good enough to get another sponsor besides her parents at 16...well, then she's clearly more resourceful than the average 16 year old at the least.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

The parents should be locked up for child endangerment and heavily fined. For her actions the girl should never be placed in any history or record book and in addition laws should be passed to make sure this never happens again.

The reason for all of this is to discourage any other 16 year olds from doing this sort of thing and winning themselves a Darwin award. Thankfully the girl is alive and with any luck will be sent home.

HURR HURR HURR!

I don't understand some of the histrionics going on in this thread. Letting a sixteen year old child attempt to circumnavigate the globe solo is far safer than many other things we let them do for fun, like drive. I mean, the only person Abby Sunderland could possibly harm while sailing solo is . . . well, herself (unless one of the people rescuing her does something really dumb/gets eaten by a kraken/etc.) Even if she spawned a bunch of wannabe copycats, few would have the resources to even attempt such a feat, and even if they all got killed in a hurricane, the total number of them who'd get killed would likely be less that the death toll that might take place if this same girl and a car full of her teenaged friends had a head-on collision with a soccer mom's minivan at 55 MPH. Far more teenagers will probably be killed driving in the next month (over 400, given that over 5000 of them are killed each year in auto accidents.) than would perish in all the collective high-end stunts like solo sailing around the world, or solo flying, or climbing Mount Everest attempted in the next decade.

You want to know a few activities that endanger children far more than the odd well-publicised stunt attempted by teenagers backed by parents with more money than sense?(*)

Try hiking, skiing, rock climbing, hunting, swimming, playing sports like basketball and baseball, and standing outside during thunderstorms.

(* - Found by searching Google and quickly counting the number and frequency of unique news stories.)

[Cecelia5578]

At 16 here you can go off and get married etc.

If she's a competent sailor then good luck to her. If I were her father I wouldn't necessarily approve, but at that age I doubt I'd be able to stop her without either doing something potentially illegal (ie physically stopping her), or possibly ruining other aspects of her like (ie "I won't support you in Uni!") since she would be old enough to be responsible for herself legally.

I do think she should have had someone else with her though.

You could, for example...not pay for the yacht? Outfitting a boat is damn expensive ; There's no way she could've financed it herself without a sponsor. If she's good enough to get another sponsor besides her parents at 16...well, then she's clearly more resourceful than the average 16 year old at the least.

She's from Thousand Oaks, CA-a very affluent community by just about any standard. Rich people can afford to indulge in hobbies like sailing, and I'm sure her parents have that confidence/arrogance that rich people have that they can do just about anything cause they've earned it and can afford it.

[PeZook]

She's from Thousand Oaks, CA-a very affluent community by just about any standard. Rich people can afford to indulge in hobbies like sailing, and I'm sure her parents have that confidence/arrogance that rich people have that they can do just about anything cause they've earned it and can afford it.

Yes, and this changes my point how? Her parents could've easily stopped her from going on the trip if they simply refused to pay for the yacht.

[Akumz Razor]

Not only do her parents appear to be highly wealthy, they also appear to be highly religious. I live in the area and last night the local news (where I work) had exclusive video of a large prayer group held by her family, compete with the family preacher praying to god for the family to not "burden themselves with guilt" over the disappearance of the girl. We also interviewed her brother (who successfully solo-sailed around the world a few years ago) stating that the family was "doing all they could" by constantly praying. Seems these folks are part of the 'x-treme sports for Jesus' crowd.

[Invictus ChiKen]

You can hurr hurr hurr all ya want. She is a minor in her state (last I checked), she hasn't completed high school (according to my web searches), by California state law she should be in school during all of this (again to the best of my knowledge). If these are true her parents are breaking the law and should be punished. I do here by withdraw the above if I my understanding is wrong.

As for the do not recognize it, well last I checked this kind of thing (records made by breaking the law) is discouraged for good reason.

I am not calling for the family to be executed and the child turned out on the streets, but rather the law to be enforced if it indeed (as it seems) has been broken.

[PeZook]

You can hurr hurr hurr all ya want. She is a minor in her state (last I checked), she hasn't completed high school (according to my web searches), by California state law she should be in school during all of this (again to the best of my knowledge). If these are true her parents are breaking the law and should be punished. I do here by withdraw the above if I my understanding is wrong.

So because she was allowed to do something dangerous during the school year, we should throw her parents in prison and excise her from all history books and ban all 16 year olds from sailing in the open sea anywhere in the world?

As for the do not recognize it, well last I checked this kind of thing (records made by breaking the law) is discouraged for good reason.

Yes, I guess this is why we always purge history books of any mention of anyone who did anything stupid, reckless or illegal, right? Because it may encourage other people, and if they don't know somebody else did it before, they will obviously never ever try it

Not that you managed to show she was breaking the law by sailing around the world: at best, she broke it by skipping school! This is obviously such a terrible crime we should purge her name from all records forever.

I am not calling for the family to be executed and the child turned out on the streets, but rather the law to be enforced if it indeed (as it seems) has been broken.

No, you said her parents should be locked up, the girl purged from history and record books and laws to be passed "so that this never happens again", which I take means saying minors can't run yachts period?

All to save one minor per decade who may or may not undertake such a trip at some time in the future...

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

You can hurr hurr hurr all ya want. She is a minor in her state (last I checked), she hasn't completed high school (according to my web searches), by California state law she should be in school during all of this (again to the best of my knowledge). If these are true her parents are breaking the law and should be punished. I do here by withdraw the above if I my understanding is wrong.

Presumably this family is well-heeled enough to home-school her via private tutors; since homeschooling happens to be legal in California. As long as she's being homeschooled and continues to meet California's and federal academic standards, the system really couldn't care less whether or not her ass is in a seat in a classroom during school hours.

You want to protect more children? Ban them all from driving unsupervised, and ban them all from giving their friends rides. That'll save over 5000 more of 'em per year than coming down like a ton of bricks on the Abby Sunderlands of the world.

[Ryan Thunder]

No, you said her parents should be locked up, the girl purged from history and record books and laws to be passed "so that this never happens again", which I take means saying minors can't run yachts period?

All to save one minor per decade who may or may not undertake such a trip at some time in the future...

More pointless laws have been enacted. Remember the asshat who decided nobody should swear for a week?

[Stofsk]

Not only do her parents appear to be highly wealthy, they also appear to be highly religious. I live in the area and last night the local news (where I work) had exclusive video of a large prayer group held by her family, compete with the family preacher praying to god for the family to not "burden themselves with guilt" over the disappearance of the girl. We also interviewed her brother (who successfully solo-sailed around the world a few years ago) stating that the family was "doing all they could" by constantly praying.

What else can they do? It's out of their hands. Praying is more for their benefit than anyone else's.

Seems these folks are part of the 'x-treme sports for Jesus' crowd.

Is there actually a crowd for that?

[hongi]

Is there actually a crowd for that?

http://www.climbingforchrist.org/ ugh. Get your dirty religious paws off my hobby!

[Serafina]

She is just taking an unnecessary risk. As is everyone who, say, climbs without safety.

And yes, parents should really think twice before letting their child do something like that. Taking her on a deep-water sailing tour - or sending her with other people - yes, that's okay.
But this is just reckless - and that is not good parental behaviour.
Still, i am not sure yet wether legal action would be a good thing.

[Invictus ChiKen]

No, you said her parents should be locked up, the girl purged from history and record books and laws to be passed "so that this never happens again", which I take means saying minors can't run yachts period?

All to save one minor per decade who may or may not undertake such a trip at some time in the future...

I had hoped people would have the braincells to figure out I mean do not give her recognition for this action not make her a Non-Person...

[PeZook]

Oh, I'm terribly sorry, forgive me for reading:

For her actions the girl should never be placed in any history or record book and in addition laws should be passed to make sure this never happens again.

As you advocating that the girl should never be placed in any history or record book