Teen Forced to Quit Round-the-World Sail

Broken auto pilot ends Sunderland's record hopes
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 26, 2010 4:24 AM CDT
Teen Forced to Quit Round-the-World Sail
Abby Sunderland, 16, stands on her sailboat, Wild Eyes, as she leaves for her world-record attempting journey from in Marina del Rey, Calif.   (AP Photo/Richard Hartog)

California teen Abby Sunderland has been forced to abandon her attempt to become the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world without stopping. The 16-year-old, who set off in January, is headed toward Cape Town for emergency repairs to her 40-foot boat's navigation system, ABC News reports. She plans to keep going once repairs are made, despite losing the chance at the non-stop record.

"I admit I was pretty upset at first, but there is no point in getting upset," she said. "What's done is done and there is nothing I can do about it. I know that some people will look on my trip as a failure because of this, and there really isn't anything that I can do about that." The record for the youngest non-stop sail around the world was set by Abby's older brother last year, but was broken by a British teen a few months later.
(More California stories.)

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