Californian teen sailor Abby Sunderland was rescued by French fishermen today after two days of battle with gale force winds and freezing temperatures while stranded on her stricken boat in the Indian Ocean.
The 16-year-old was said to be in good health when the Ile de la Reunion, a French fishing vessel, reached her battered yacht Wild Eyes in heavy seas earlier today.
Speaking outside the family home in Thousand Oaks, southern California, her father Laurence Sunderland said maritime authorities had contacted him to confirm the successful rescue operation, which took place at 7.45pm eastern Australian time (10.45 BST).
An hour before the rescue, an Australian rescue spotter plane overflew Wild Eyes and she fired off a flare to confirm her position.
The fishing ship then lowered one of its boats into the still-turbulent seas in order to bring her aboard.
Abby was forced to abandon her controversial round-the-world attempt when the 40ft ship’s mast snapped after it was pounded by wild weather midway between Africa and Australia on Thursday.
An international search and rescue mission was launched after emergency beacons on the yacht were set off and Abby’s family and support crew lost contact with the teenager.
The search for Abby involved Australian, US and French rescue authorities sending ships and a commercial airliner before she was eventually rescued approximately 2,000 nautical miles off the west coast of Australia.
Twenty hours after her distress call was broadcast an Australian search plane made brief radio contact, confirming that she was alive and well.
Australian taxpayers are expected to cover some of the cost of rescuing the American teenager, which is believed to have already cost more than $AU200,000 (£116,000).
Abby left the US in January in a widely criticised attempt to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe alone non-stop. She had to give up her chance at that record when she was forced to pull into a port at Cape Town, South Africa, for repairs to her boat.
Her plight has rekindled a debate about teenagers attempting to sail around the world, after an Australian teenager, Jessica Watson, returned home to a hero’s welcome after completing a similar trip last month.
Many people have criticised Abby’s parents for allowing the high-risk adventure, especially during the Southern Hemisphere’s winter months.
The man who built Wild Eyes said he thought that Abby had never been ready to make such a trip.
“This boat is bigger and faster than Jessica Watson’s boat. In Abby’s case she wasn’t physically or mentally strong enough to handle a 40-ft boat in those winter storm conditions,” said Queensland boat builder Jon Sayer.
Australian round-the-world yachtsman Ian Kiernan also criticised Abby.
“I don’t know what she’s doing in the southern Indian Ocean in the middle of the winter,” he said. “We need adventurers but adventurers who do foolhardy things and put their rescuers at risk, it should not be allowed.”
Abby’s family have defended her adventure, saying that as a lifelong sailor she was as well prepared for the journey as anyone could be. Her brother successfully circled the globe last year when he was about the same age.
