She Goes – Laura Dekker drops Dutch Citizenship to Sail the World

(updated 08/25, 07:30 ET)

“Starting now”, Laura Dekker is voluntarily abandoning her dutch citizenship. She doesn’t want to wait for the ruling of the juvenile court in Utrecht, which might make it impossible to start her two year sailing trip around the world. Laura is almost 14 and wants to be the youngest ever to sail the world, solo.

See also previous post.

Wijk bij Duurstede, the municipality where Laura is formally registered, however has not yet agreed to unsubscribe her. The city officials first want to know if she is really leaving the country.

Laura now plans an emigration to New Zealand, one of the three countries she has a passport of. Her lawyer Peter De Lange yesterday stated that Laura “is not an average girl. She was born on a sailing vessel and spent the first four years of her life at sea.” Moreover, he says, she has all the technical skills needed to make a journey like this. He wants the court to see her as a very talented athlete. “Any other young athlete like her would get the support of the olympic committee and nobody would wonder if her dedication to the sport would influence her development as a human being.”

After emigrating to New Zealand, her chances of being able to sail are considered much better than in the Netherlands, due to the more adventurous cultural background of  the country. Still, the Dutch government might ask its colleagues in New Zealand to take in and defend the Dutch position in this case. Offically nothing has been undertaken so far, or will be, before the juvenile court has come to a ruling.

The National Council for Child Protection has asked the court to have the parental authority to be withdrawn from Laura’s father and mother and to have Laura put under the authority of the national Bureau for Youth Care. Court rulings are expected on friday morning. But Laura might have sailed off by then.

Related: Mike Perham sailed the Atlantic ocean at age 14: