Teen sailor fled to Caribbean to buy boat

AP

RETURNING HOME: Runaway Laura Dekker is being sent back to her Dutch parents after fleeing to the Caribbean after dreams of sailing solo around the world collapsed.

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New Zealand-born Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, whose round-the-world voyage was blocked by the courts, fled to the Caribbean island of St Martin to buy a boat and start her voyage, her lawyer said.

Laura, 14, went missing last Thursday but was found on St Martin in the Dutch Antilles and was flown home on Tuesday to face a legal storm as child welfare authorities sought to place her in a crisis shelter.

A Dutch court has now agreed she can remain in her father's care.

Although the court ruled against the welfare authorities' request, judges said on Wednesday that if co-operation breaks down again between them and the Dekkers, the Bureau of Youth Care could lodge an appeal.

It was previously not known why Laura fled to St Martin, although it had been speculated she had planned to start her voyage and unconfirmed Dutch media reports say she withdrew 3500 euros from her account last week.

"She went there to buy a boat," lawyer Peter de Lange told reporters outside the court, adding Laura told the court, on Wednesday, about her intentions. "Boats are a lot cheaper there."

Laura is also said to have quickly made contacts within the sailing community on St Martin after her arrival there.

Born on her parents' boat in New Zealand, Laura had intended to start on September 1 a two-year solo voyage round the world - financed by sponsors - but a court blocked her departure and placed her under state supervision, saying the trip posed risks to her safety.

Laura still plans to attempt her journey, starting at the earliest in July 2010, but has to meet various conditions imposed by the court.

- with Reuters

- Reuters