You do know about her brother ?Zac Sunderland (born November 29, 1991) is an American sailor known for being the first person under the age of 18 to sail solo around the world
Not the same. Zac's voyage was an equatorial cruise following the trade winds. Riding the Westerly conveyor in the Southern Ocean is different. It's not just sitting in a boat.
I don't think the Sunderalnds realized this.
Jessica Watson (first person under 17) in Ella's Pink Lady in mild (30-40kt) conditions off Tasmania about a month ago (but no pirates)
Check it out: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/11/2924243.htm?section=justin
A multi-national search and rescue operation has been launched after emergency beacons onboard 16-year-old Abby Sunderland’s boat were triggered when the young American adventurer ran into huge waves hundreds of kilometres from land early this morning.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) says a Qantas Airbus is heading to the search zone, which is about 3,600 kilometres from the WA coast.
AMSA spokeswoman Carly Lusk says conditions in the search area are poor, with 90 kilometre per hour winds and a six-metre swell.
She says the signals coming from the two beacons Sunderland has activated - one attached to her body and another attached to her boat - suggest she is still in the boat.
She says the crew on board the Qantas jet hope to contact Sunderland by VHF radio once they reach the search area.
“We’ve got two Qantas flight crews on board, as well as 11 trained air observers from the Western Australian fire emergency services and two Fremantle water police officers,” she said.