Abby Sunderland

She was then at -15°N, -123°W, some 1860 mi from the quake's epicenter, but the great ocean depth at her location minimized the effect of the resulting tsunami and her team reported she had not "... experienced anything out of the ordinary."

Abigail Jillian Sunderland (born October 19, 1993) is an American former sailor who, in 2010, attempted to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

The second-eldest of Marianne and Laurence Sunderland's eight children, Sunderland grew up sailing with her family.

Her brother, Zac Sunderland, was the first person under the age of 18 to complete a circumnavigation.

Her family is Christian.

She and her siblings have been homeschooled.

A lifelong sailor, Sunderland said she had been preparing for her journey since age 13.

Her father Laurence Sunderland said he understood her determination when "It was a particularly rough day and her boat was rocking from gunnel to gunnel. ... I knew she was freezing cold, tired and hungry, and we'd been at it for, you know, 20 hours at that stage. I said, 'So Abby, are you ready to sail around the world now?' To which she replied, 'Where is my boat?'" Her parents were widely criticized for the decision to allow her to undertake this trip, with one critic calling the decision "potentially irresponsible."

The planned sail route was to begin from Marina del Rey, thence to Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and back to Marina del Rey in ten legs, solo and unassisted, following definitions set by the International Sailing Federation World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), according to which the equator must be crossed.

Sail-World noted of Sunderland's departure timing: "While ... she will round the Horn in the height of summer when conditions should be the best they can be, her delayed departure ... means that by the time she sails south of Australia, the weather will be approaching autumn, and the weather will be deteriorating.".

After her rescue, the trip was criticized by sailors as "badly planned" and "foolhardy."

Sunderland's yacht Wild Eyes was a 40 ft sloop built in 2001 by A.S.A. Yachts PTY, Australia.

Designed by Jutson Yacht, it was purported to be made specifically for sailing single-handed through the Southern Ocean, but post-rescue reporting disputed this.

Under its earlier name BTC Velocity the vessel finished second in the Class 3 (Open 40) category of the Around Alone 2002 race.

Wild Eyes was constructed of fiberglass with Kevlar reinforcement into five watertight compartments with a crash bulkhead and a stern escape hatch.

It was bought in Rhode Island by the Sunderland family in October 2009 and refitted in Marina Del Rey, California, with an array of electrical, communication and navigation systems.

Sunderland started her solo circumnavigation from Marina del Rey, California, on January 23, 2010.

There had not been enough time to do a multi-day test sail in varying conditions, so the team decided to let her depart anyway, and stop in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, if needed.

After a few days it became evident that her solar panels and wind turbines were not meeting the energy needs of her boat in the conditions she met, so using the diesel engine was needed more than anticipated.

There were also electrical problems in her mast wiring, which affected her windspeed indicators.

Sunderland landed at Cabo San Lucas on February 2, 2010, to take on more fuel and batteries, make repairs and restart her non-stop circumnavigation attempt.

Sunderland started her second attempt from Cabo San Lucas on February 6, 2010, intending to complete a solo, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigation in ten legs, departing from and returning to Cabo San Lucas.

On February 19, 2010, at 3:07 PM PST, thirteen days after departing Cabo San Lucas, Sunderland and Wild Eyes crossed the equator into the South Pacific at °N, -120.25°W.

On February 27, 2010, there was media concern for Sunderland's safety because of the 2010 Chile earthquake.

On March 21, 2010, while sleeping at approximately 2:00 AM local time, she suffered a knock-down and barely avoided an accidental jibe.

On March 31, 2010, Sunderland rounded Cape Horn—the southernmost point of South America—making her the youngest solo sailor to do so.

She experienced rough seas and heavy winds when approaching, but little wind the last day before Cape Horn.

On April 24, 2010, Sunderland announced that she would stop at Cape Town for repairs to her autopilot system, ending her non-stop attempt.

However, she planned to continue the circumnavigation.

Sunderland had two separate autopilot systems and both failed.

She was able to swap parts between them to keep one going for a time, but a leak made the repair stop necessary.

She arrived in Cape Town on May 5, 2010.

Sunderland departed from Cape Town on Friday, May 21, 2010, defying the superstition against starting a sailing voyage on a Friday, and saying, "I will stop again if I need to."

By this time, it became likely her arrival in Cabo San Lucas or direct to Marina del Rey would be in August or possibly September.

Around May 24, 2010, a line got stuck near the top of her mast.

Sunderland tried to climb the mast but found it too dangerous in the near gale conditions and full darkness, so she sailed throughout that night under reduced sails.

On the morning of June 10, 2010, Sunderland was sailing in high winds and had suffered multiple knockdowns in a remote area of the Indian Ocean northeast of the Kerguelen Islands, about 2000 mi west of Australia.

Satellite phone contact was lost and about an hour later Sunderland's two manually operated emergency radio beacons were activated.

A third beacon which triggers automatically if it goes 15 ft underwater was not activated.

The nearest known ship was about 400 mi away from her electronically reported position.