NEWS AND NOTES
Blue Water Sailing
April 26, 2010
Abby Sunderland Detours to Cape Town, SA for Repairs
Although some media reports have stated that teen sailor Abby Sunderland has abandoned her circumnavigation, according to her website today, she is continuing on after a brief repair stop in Cape Town.
April 25/26, 2010
"Despite some media reports stating that Abby's trip has been abandoned, the journey IS NOT over. Abby still plans on continuing her solo circumnavigation and hopes to become the youngest person to sail around the world solo." From abbysunderland.com.
Abby Sunderland, one of two 16-year-old girls on different quests to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted, has announced she will head to Cape Town, South Africa, to repair a faulty autopilot system.
The high-school junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif., stressed on her blog that she will continue her journey after making repairs and seek to become simply the youngest person to solo-circumnavigate the planet in a sailboat.
Jessica Watson, Sunderland's Australian counterpart, is expected to complete her nonstop circumnavigation attempt in late May. Watson is enduring severe weather aboard her 34-foot pink sailboat as she travels beneath Australia en route to her finish point at Sydney Harbor. Watson, who is five months older than Sunderland, left Sydney last October.
Sunderland, who departed Marina del Rey about 3 months ago aboard her Open 40 - Wild Eyes has been experiencing trouble with her autopilot system for the past several weeks, including during a precarious passage around treacherous Cape Horn at South America's tip and in doing so, became the youngest person to sail around the Cape alone.
Sunderland's primary and backup autopilots have proved faulty. At one point recently, in rough seas and freezing temperatures, the intrepid mariner had to hand-steer from the stern deck for 24 consecutive hours. She stated on her blog that it'd be "foolish and irresponsible" to transition from the South Atlantic to a long and potentially rollicking Indian Ocean stretch without fully operational equipment.
"I gave it my best shot and made it almost halfway around the world," she said. "I will definitely keep going, and whether or not I will make any more stops after this I don't know."
Laurence Sunderland, Abby's father, said in an interview that his daughter has "matured considerably as a sailor and a person" while working tirelessly to keep her boat, Wild Eyes, on course in the monotonously gray, topsy-turvy and bitter-cold region east of Cape Horn. Laurence Sunderland will fly to Cape Town and help Abby with repairs when she arrives in 10-12 days.
Photos of Abby Sunderland courtesy of GizaraArts.com
