Teen sailor Abby Sunderland abandons nonstop around-the-world quest

Yahoo! via grindtv ^ | 25 Apr 2010 | Pete Thomas

[shove_it]

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.

[...]

Autopilots are supposed to hold a sailor's course but Sunderland's primary and backup units have been 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.

[...]

[shove_it]

You go girl!!!

[shove_it]

The headline sucks but I had to post it.

[Star Traveler]

Well, that’s not something that I would personally do, but it is quite an accomplishment and I would rather be reading about a 16-year old doing that, than what I hear from a lot of 16-year-olds today ... :-)

[garyhope]

I’ve been across both the Atlantic and the Pacific by ship and I want to tell you that they are very, very big, deep, scary and unforgiving.

To the oceans, you’re just a small tid bit of food or flotsam.

That girl has got courage, guts and spunk.

Maybe she’s just a typical American!

[Ole Okie]

Hate to hear it, but she accomplished a lot. Malfunctioning autopilots are not to be trifled with.

[Star Traveler]

[Star Traveler]

[JRandomFreeper]

You know, if I had a resume cross my desk that said "Sailed solo around the world at age 16", I would hire that person. The willingness to suceed and the smarts to do it are 90% of any job.

Her parents must be busting with pride. They did very well at raising a human.

/johnny

[trisham]

Wow. What a boat!

[Star Traveler]

[Beowulf9]

Well,for her I would worry about the weirdo’s that sail out on the ocean, like those pirate types.

[Star Traveler]

Well, here's a top-down look ... :-)

[Drew68]

Maybe she’s just a typical American!

Unfortunately, she's quite exceptional.

[shove_it]

Thanks for adding the great photos of this smart brave girl.

[trisham]

Amazing.

[ml/nj]

I'm not sure what the big deal is. Her brother stopped at many ports on his solo sail around the world.

ML/NJ

[Star Traveler]

Apparently, she's been sailing for a while ... :-)

[shove_it]

“Nonstop” is the operative word. That’s what she was shooting for. The headline makes her sound like a failure.

[Theo]

She was looking to go “nonstop.” That’s the difference. I’d think that Zach had a whole lot more fun and adventure, stopping here and there in various countries ...

[trisham]

Cute kids!