Court clears the decks for Dekker to set world record
14-year-old to remain with father before sailing
Amsterdam: A Dutch court has ruled that 14-year-old sailor Laura Dekker can remain in her father's custody after she ran away from home and travelled alone to the Caribbean.
Wednesday's ruling by the Utrecht District Court clears the way once again for Dekker to pursue her goal of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
"At this moment there is no reason to remove her from her home," Presiding Judge M. Oostendorp said while reading the ruling of a three-judge panel.
Dekker's spokeswoman said the teenager had "jumped a hole in the sky" after hearing the news.
"That it took a trip to St Maarten, so be it," Mariska Woertman said.
Dekker had originally planned to depart this year with the support of her father. But that plan was blocked by the court in October, which ordered her to prepare more and wait at least until 2010 before starting. It also ordered her to undergo scrutiny by social workers.
Frustrated by the regime she was subjected to, and with her grades slipping, she fled last week with about $5,000 (Dh18,390), prompting an international search.
Travel plan
She travelled to Paris and used a New Zealand passport to catch a flight to the Dutch Caribbean territory of St Maarten. Dekker has a dual nationality because she was born on a boat in New Zealand while her parents were sailing around the world.
She returned to the Netherlands on Tuesday. Judges said Laura's father Dick and social workers had clashed on what she needed to do to prepare for her trip.
