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MacG · 15-12-2011, 16:42

@Deckofficer

The reason that I defended Laura from the very beginning is that I respected her desire for the freedom of will. She was born on a sailing boat, traveled the world on a sailingboat and her first imprints were of those of being/living on a sailingboat.
I know where she lived, Wijk bij Duurstede is not far away from our residence, and I know that in that small community she and her father were looked at some oddballs.

In a very short time she showed the world what she is capable of and that sailing is not only natural to her buts also part of her living. I believe that you, being a pro understand that quite well as so many pro' s had offered their sympathies to her when she struggled against an unwilling (and complotting) bunch of low profile small town bureaucrats. The whole story (not told by Wikipedia) did start with a jealous small town bureaucrat who wanted to display his power.
That it finally went wrong (for the bureaucrats) was the fact that she gained the help of a good lawyer and some strong supporters from various corners of the professional world.

I believe that she is the ultimate soloist, solosailor.

deckofficer · 15-12-2011, 17:00

MacG,

I am so glad I have met you here on the forum. You are able to give insight that even after hours of searching on the Internet, I have missed. From the very start, I was also "pro-Laura" but more from a hunch I had, and not the inside viewpoint that you have had. As I mentioned, from reading her writings, I believe she is very competitive when she gets excited about leaving any given port on a passage in the company of other, faster boats, and arrives at the new port hours, if not days ahead of everyone else. She seemed to really be happy and in her element in Cape Town during the Volvo Cup, even going as far as saying "This has been the highlight of the trip". I'm only a pro, as you call it, in moving people's freight, do you think Laura might become a pro, a hired gun for prestigious boat races in the future?

MacG · 15-12-2011, 17:24

@Bob

I am reluctant to answer that question.

In a single-handed race: absolutely!
In a Volvo-ATW I am not so sure. There is a lot of competition and also jalousie de metier in that particular world and she is far too intelligent to let her drag down just by the superficial aspects of boatracing.
I have been sailing on an admiral' s cupper with a large crew and it was not my type of sailing. Like me, Laura is a soloist and there is very little to help that.

On the other hand, she had smelled the thrill of big boats and high speeds. So finally I think yes, she will probably join a team or two before she is capable to plot her own stratagem and able to put her stamp on the pro-world of boatracing.
Girls, far less capable than Laura, have found the better boats with not the better results.
It is however, a matter of the future. Watch her developing.

Robert

deckofficer · 15-12-2011, 17:39

Can't argue that logic. Since I am not a follower of competitive sailing, what are the big solo events? With your input, I'll research the events on my time, but will like being pointed in the right direction with the names of the big ones.

Also I discovered a way to direct Laura to this forum, when writing her you have to by-pass her spam filters by avoiding a hyper link in your correspondence and just typing www dot cruisersforum dot com and by doing that it gets through to her.

ZeilmeisjeonFB · 16-12-2011, 04:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckofficer

I think the Kiwi race team "Camper" has adopted her.

Even though the Dutch Press has been a bit hard on her for the battle she waged with the Dutch government for over a year, the Dutch Sailing magazine holds her in better esteem. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't she cross the North Sea on her own at age 12 and her boat was a Hurly 800, not 700? Magazine said 13 and 700???

ZEILMEISJE LAURA DEKKER on FACEBOOK

Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker | Facebook

LAURA'S COLUMNS FOR THE ALGEMEEN DAGBLAD - ENGLISH

Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker: Algemeen Dagblad - English

LAURA DEKKER - SOLO TO ENGLAND

This report was first published in issue 7 of the Dutch ZEILEN (Sailing) magazine in 2009. We would like to thank Mr. Cees van Dijk, chief editor of the ZEILEN magazine, for the permission to translate and to publish this report.

Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?u...#8203;opic=205

ZeilmeisjeonFB · 16-12-2011, 05:08

Sorry, wrong link.

LAURA DEKKER - SOLO TO ENGLAND

This report was first published in issue 7 of the Dutch ZEILEN (Sailing) magazine in 2009. We would like to thank Mr. Cees van Dijk, chief editor of the ZEILEN magazine, for the permission to translate and to publish this report.

Enjoy!

Zeilmeisje Laura Dekker Archives: Zeilen Magazine / Issue 7 - July 2009 / English

deckofficer · 16-12-2011, 10:03

ZeilmeisjeonFB

Many thanks for the links, good read.

MacG · 16-12-2011, 11:39

The term "zeilmeisje" is of my creation - originally I wrote in "Zeilersforum" 'Zeilmeid'.

Now the term is widely used. Unfortunately you cannot "patent" words...

deckofficer · 16-12-2011, 13:02

zeilmeisje is "sailing girl" the way I translate Dutch. Since you coined it, what is the meaning?

"Zeilersforum" 'Zeilmeid'. Sailor's forum and sail girl

MacG · 16-12-2011, 13:17

Zeilersforum is the Dutch eq. of CF. "Zeilmeid" is a word with a (subtle) double meaning and not really translatable w/o hitting the wrong button. I could do it in French: "gamine" which comes close. Maybe the word tomboy comes in the neighborhood.

Wordplay is a game that I play quite often.

deckofficer · 16-12-2011, 13:29

Tomboy is a popular term here in the States, denoting a young girl that enjoys doing boy type activities or has the physical strength of a boy. Sailing is a neutral sport/past time, enjoyed by both sexes. Now for her size, I think she is probably quite strong, as many times as she has hoisted herself up her mast. Check out the definition of her arm muscles in this picture.

Got a little "Popeye" thing going there.

MacG · 16-12-2011, 13:40

Yes, it came to my attention that she' s matured fast and strong as well.
Quite passionately this embracing ......

deckofficer · 16-12-2011, 13:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacG

Quite passionately this embracing ......

That is how rumors are inadvertently started. It is hard to tell from the picture, but I think that is dear old dad.

Now for a more "fun" rumor, we could say she is adding to her cruising kitty by beating the guys in arm wrestling at the local bars.