Abby Sunderland Found Alive After Wild Eyes Spotted by Qantas

After 20 hours of worry, the world breathed a sigh of relief today when 16-year-old sailor, Abby Sunderland was found alive and well, adrift in the Indian Ocean halfway between Australia and Africa, some 2000 miles between land.

Sunderland, the California girl attempting to become the youngest person to ever sail solo around the world, was in the southern Indian Ocean east of Madagascar when she hit a storm Thursday. After losing contact with the coast gurad, she set off her emergency beacon locating devices early Thursday morning after enduring multiple knockdowns in 60-knot winds and battling large swells and rogue waves.

Abby, the second of seven children, was talking to her father on satellite when the line went dead. Before she lost contact, she also told her family she was having engine trouble. Her parents, who have faced public scrutiny for allowing their teenaged daughter to embark on such a trecherous journey, were alerted shortly afterward that both of their daughter’s satellite devices on board her 40ft yacht, Wild Eyes, had been activated, one of which is attached to a survival suit meant to be used when a person is in the water. Abby’s father said he didn’t know if his daughter was in a life raft, aboard Wild Eyes, or whether it had overturned.

However, late Thursday night, searchers aboard a Qantas Airbus A330 spotted Wild Eyes and made contact with the teen sailor via radio.

“We have just heard from the Australian Search and Rescue. The plane arrived on the scene moments ago. Wild Eyes is upright but her rigging is down. The weather conditions are abating. Radio communication was made and Abby reports that she is fine!” Abby’s parents wrote on her blog.

Abby comes from a family of daredevils; in 2009 her older brother Zac became the youngest to sail alone around the world without stopping when he was 17. Abby left on her quest to be the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe alone from Marina Del Rey, Calif., on Jan. 23, though she had to let go of the goal of setting the record in April when she had to make a stop to make equipment repairs. She continued on, however.

A French fishing vessel that has been diverted to her location is expected to reach her sometime today. Once she is rescued, she will be taken to Australia, where her family is waiting to greet her.

Abby’s parents and brother Zac went on the Today Show this morning, where Meredith Vieira questioned their decision to allow Abby to navigate the dangerous seas alone.

“You face hard knocks out there and sometimes people need to be rescued. She’s proven herself on more than one occasion,” Abby’s father Laurence Sunderland said. “It’s not to do with her ability. The boat was demasted because of a condition. She’s proven she’s more than capable of dealing with this. I think this is more of a testimony to her will to survive and deal with the situation than a travesty that she went out there at all. I’m still excited for Abigail.” 

Want to live on the edge too? Sports Interaction’s online casino is all the excitement you’ll need to get your adreneline pumping.