16-year-old Abby Sunderland defends parents, doesn't rule out another sailing attempt

With her family under fire since her rescue in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Thousand Oaks 16-year-old Abby Sunderland spoke in their defense in a phone interview with the Associated Press while her rescue boat made a stop on the remote Kerguelen Islands north of Antarctica:

Sunderland acknowledged that her adventure "can look pretty crazy. But the thing is, those people don't know me. And if they did, they wouldn't be criticizing my age." ...

"I think that a lot of people are judging me by the standards they have for their teens and other teens that they know … and thinking 'she's exactly like them,'" Sunderland said. "They don't understand that I've sailed my whole life and I do know what I'm doing out there."

"Storms and bad weather, it's the chance you take when you're sailing around the world. And I was up for it, and my parents knew I was," she added.

Sunderland was attempting to circumnavigate the globe alone when she hit three-story-high waves Thursday. The rough seas snapped her mast, triggering a tense search and a rescue by a French fishing boat. 

Her brother Zac briefly held the distinction of being the youngest person to sail solo around the world, at age 17. The record was taken by 16-year-old Jessica Watson of Australia, who completed the trip in May.

Abby Sunderland told the AP that she regretted having to give up on her dream of circumnavigating the globe, and was grateful to the crew of the French fishing boat for coming out of their way to rescue her.

She didn't, however, rule out another attempt.

"It's been a dream or a goal of mine for years," she said. "I don't know when or how I will, but I'm pretty sure I will one day sail around the world."

She is expected to reunite with her family in several days when the boat arrives, appropriately enough, at Reunion Island.

-- Tony Barboza

Photo: Abby Sunderland. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Elwood]

To all those who say it is a hoax, just remember that when the SAR aircraft first flew over her she said she was safe with two weeks supply of food on board. Her journey would have taken another few months, but she was just planning to go on a new type of diet. It is called the Dachau Diet.
And when her father said that he thought the boat was upside down, that was just because he had forgotten all the roll-over testing that they did on the boat before she set out, where her boat snapped back upright every time. The pics of the test are on her website. It is really hard to get that type of boat to capsize, but he is only a boat builder, and wouldn't know that.
Seriously, my brother in law has a 38 foot yacht just south of Perth and pulls it out of the water every winter as it keeps getting ripped off its mooring and washed up on the beach, and he is a long way further north than Abby was. I used to live in Albany WA, and to sail those waters in any small boat in winter is plain suicide. There is no skill or boat that will get you through. Only blind luck. An English guy named Tony Bullimore was rolled in the same area in January, which is the middle of summer.

[TheBigPicture]

Who's going to pay for this rescue effort...

[West Valley Dave]

If she wants to try again, with Mommy and Daddy having money problems, who will buy her a new boat? She's done.

[Charley Walker]

Its not like jogging or swimming in incremental distances and getting better. We are talking about the deadly and unforgiving ocean waters. I guess you do get your smarts from your parents. And unfortunately they're aren't any in this family tree. Whats makes someone think they can beat mother nature? Just wondering

[walter]

Keep your kids at home playing video games and eating junk food and watching TV and surfing the web. The world is a big scary place. Don't take any risks and criticize others who do take risks. Haha! This disease of the lazy "do nothings" of the world is disgusting. Get a life! Abby is awesome!

[Jay]

Abby, you're a kid, whether you want to believe it or not. There's a reason why kids are bad drivers and get in accidents and overdose more than the rest of the population. You think you're superman but you're not. This is simply bad parenting.

[Baffled Observer]

If she does this again, her family should definitely be required to buy their own failure insurance. It's ridiculous that the Australian public had to pay for her to be rescued *once.* Another try with no financial backup would simply be parasitic.

[xicanoboy1331]

Abby, this country is good at critcizing & judging - it's become a country of what can't or shouldn't be done, of pessimism and exclusion. You embody the TRUE American spirit. Because of people like you, I'm still proud to call myself American. Sail on.

[robster]

With all the money her parents must have to fund their children's worldwide sailing expeditions they should be fully-prepared for the distinct possibility of their kids dying at a tender young age. At least finish college and become an adult and then make the decision. These kids cannot do anything without their parents' money, so the parents are the only ones to blame should anything bad happen. Call me crazy, but I think I'd want my kids to outlive me and not encourage them to so blantantly risk their lives in vessels that cannot handle the violent seas of the deep southern hemisphere.

[Charley Walker]

Just sounds like your typical teenager who thinks adults dont know what talking about and rather risk her life for nothing but her own ambitions and fantasies.

[Bluejeans]

Well, now we know. The trip with her being so young was to re-capture the "youngest to sail around the globe" title for her family. Some people will do anything for a title. Even die, I suppose. My only thoughts are that people like this should have to foot the bill for the rescue costs. Why should they get away with behaving foolishly and leave others' holding the tab for their egos? Present the family with a bill; payable upon demand.

[Jay Kay]

Well now, as I thought there was a lot more to this story than originally provided by the parents. They and their supporters spent the whole week on LATIMES blogs saying that Abby was a hero because she lived her dream and did not sit at home watching TV.

Now it appears the family all the time was preparing to launch a reality based TV show on their children. So they are better everyone else because they "live the dream" but are perfectly fine selling their schlock to the public.

SAD!

[Chris]

I love your spirit. Go for it, Abby!

[kgoddess]

Oh really? And who's going to pay for it this time? Oh well if someone does sponsor her, they better add on mob=ney for rescue efforts.

[Brad Douty]

I think you should try for it again Abby, but next time try taking full responsibility for your attempt to break a world record.
That is, get a job and earn the money to buy your own boat, and then have plenty of money in the bank so that if anything goes wrong you can pay for your rescue services.
By earning your own way, we might expect to see you back on the scene after about 10 years of hard work.
Mommy and Daddy and the Australian government bailed you out this time-certainly a responsible adult would want to do it differently the second time around.

[Fernando]

Teenagers nowadays are complete babies. It's rare that you find a teenager mature beyond his/her years. I applaud Abby, I'm sure she will succeed in anything she puts her mind in to, from now on. She didn't make it all the way, she went for it and is a winner. Stop criticizing her and her family. We need to show support for someone so daring who will be role model for other kids. I'm sure the old timers are happy to know that there is someone out there with enough sense of adventure who doesn't conform to the teenage stereotype. ALL YOU HATERS BACK OFF. GO AND BABY YOUR TEENAGER TILL HE/SHE IS 30, DON'T INSTILL IN THEM A SENSE OF RESPONSABILITY, A SENSE OF ADVENTURE, MOST OF ALL TEACH THEM HOW TO HAVE A LACK OF RESPECT FOR ANYTHING.

[snakewrench]

The beaten path is for beaten men.

Adventure. The human spirit needs it. Some have strive and others get a push. It's pretty awesome when someone has both happening for them. Joining a ball team is great, and the goal is to win the title. So why the hate toward winning. We pump a grand amount of money into the olympics. Is it selfish to be an olympian? Sure seems so by the logic spewed in the comments.

Life is to be lived, and there is an inherent danger just going about it day to day. I don't know much about this girl, but I do know I respect her ambition and the fact that she put it on the line.

Next time your sitting in traffic, waiting for the rat race to let you get to your office, take a look at the sad saps next to you and wave. These are your people, the beaten path posse.

[George]

Abby, settle down and get your education the traditional way. There is no record out there for you to break. Jessica Watson has already done a far superior job to you on a smaller yacht. Before her 17 birthday, Jessica single handedly, sailed NON-STOP around the world (leaving Sydney and returning NON-STOP). Her brother Zac's trip was more like a vacation. He took twice as long to circumnavigate the globe with over a dozen stops including a flight home from South Africa to see the family at Christmas. He returned a solid 18 year old. Jessica Watson has true grit. She had a much longer attention span. She focused and persisted. She has received probably a fraction of the attention of the Sunderland family. Is there no reward for competance and actual achievement.

[Craig Klein]

Seems that everyone is saying that Abby and her parents are less than smart because Abby attempted something improbable and dangerous and planned to make some money along the way.

I'm sure glad Christopher Columbus didn't consult with the LA Times readers before his voyage.

What the hell is wrong with taking a calculated risk in hopes of riches and fame?

Who's the worse parent - Abby's or Britany Spears/Lindsey Lohan's ?

As a parent, I hope that my children are brave enough to want to take on such challenges in their teen years or even later. I should be so lucky.

Shame on all you that are so jealous you can only disparage that which you envy.

[lucy]

her mother is a fool her father is a bigger fool and abby just doesn't know any better...

[AlbaDoggy]

i say go for it! it's so hard to find people with the balls enough to follow their passion and dreams! and it's so ridiculous how "grown ups" underestimate the knowledge and abilities of teenagers and children!