Abby Sunderland LOST at Southern Indian Ocean

The 16 year old sailor who is trying to become the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe is feared to be lost in Indian Ocean some 2,000 miles east of Madagascar. The girl, Abby Sunderland of Thousand Oaks, Calif., departed alone Jan. 23 in her sailboat Wild Eyes. On Thursday, she lost satellite phone contact with her family and set off emergency beacons, triggering a rescue effort by United States, Australian and French authorities. Ms. Sunderland was trying to break the record for the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe, a title held briefly by her older brother Zac, who completed his sail last year at 17. Two boats are now heading out to her position, the problem now is that the nearest of the two is around 40 hours from where Sunderland is. Zac said that right now they are just trying to figure out if there’s any way faster to get to Abby.

“She was having trouble with the engine and had taken on some water but she felt upbeat,” Mr. Pinkston said. An hour later the family was alerted that two G.P.S. emergency beacons had been activated, one on the boat and one on Ms. Sunderland’s survival suit.
“The family is fully, 100 percent focused on the rescue effort right now,” Mr. Pinkston said. “They’re seriously concerned but hopeful.” He added that Ms. Sunderland was well equipped and well trained for the sailing mission.
The two nearest ships — a fishing boat about 40 hours away and a French naval vessel more than three days away — were headed toward the location of Ms. Sunderland’s emergency beacons. Australia’s Rescue Coordination Centre planned to send a plane to look for Ms. Sunderland at daybreak, Mr. Pinkston said