Dutch delay 13-year-old sailor's worldwide trip

08-28-2009 • AP

A Dutch court ordered authorities to take temporary guardianship of a 13-year-old girl, delaying her plan to sail solo around the world until psychologists can assess her capacity to undertake such a risky voyage.

Judges said Laura Dekker would face both mental and physical risks if she were allowed to go ahead with the two-year trip in her 26-foot (8-meter) boat named Guppy.

The court said she could continue living with her father, but would become the responsibility of Dutch child care officials for two months while an independent child psychologist evaluated her case.