Laura Dekker appeared in a Dutch court on Wednesday to avoid being grounded by Dutch social workers who are trying to stop her from sailing around the world solo. Dekker wants to set a new world record for being the youngest person to do so.

The 13-year-old announced this week that she has requested her municipality, Wijk bij Duurstede, to deresgister her. She plans to settle in New Zealand instead, before setting sail in September.

'Salt in her blood'

Dekker has a New Zealand passport because she was born on a yacht there, in the middle of a four-year world trip her parents were undertaking at the time. She also has a German pasport because her mother is from there.

But the Dutch child protection agency is trying to stop her. It has gone so far as to ask a juvenile court to have her parents divested of parental authority. The case has drawn international media attention and discussions as to whether or not it is wise and safe for her to undertake this journey alone. Even deputy education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt got involved and said: "A solo voyage around the world would not be in the best interests of the child."

Laura Dekker herself appeared relaxed at a press conference on Monday. "All this, and I haven't even sailed a meter," she shrugged with a smile. She was accompanied by her lawyer and her father Dick Dekker, but her mother was absent. Her parents are separated and although it has been said that her mother too is supportive of the plan she has yet to go public with it. The lawyer avoided questions about the family situation.

World school

Richard Bakker of the children protection agency said: "We are worried about her development. A 13-year-old adolescent needs security, schooling and contact with people her own age." Schooling is part of that development and all youth under sixteen are obligated to go to school in the Netherlands, where home schooling is rare. There can be exceptions to the rule, but a trip around the world, with or without parents, is not one of them.

That doesn't mean the rule is never broken. Last year, ten to fifteen children got their education through Wereldschool (world school), an organisation that offers teaching programmes for Dutch and Flemish children abroad. Those kids were all deregistered from the Netherlands, as Dekker now plans to be.

However the municipality will not scrap her from the books just like that. For privacy reasons, a spokesperson couldn't say whether a request has in fact been submitted, but the municipality is waiting for the judges' verdict on Friday before it makes a decision on the issue.

Meanwhile, Laura continues her preparations for the trip, which her lawyer said will follow a safe route. She will not go around the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, but plans to take the Panama and Suez canals. She will also make regular stops in places where her travelling parents have friends. She will be in touch through a satellite telephone while alone on her 8-meter polyester Hurley 800, named Guppy. And she has promised to do her homework.