Fishing boat to the rescue as teen's round-the-world bid ends

A French fishing vessel was steaming across the southern Indian Ocean today to reach an American teenager stranded after the mast on her yacht broke, ending her round-the-world record bid.

Abby Sunderland, from California, has been stranded in heavy seas since Thursday, when she set off a distress signal after the mast collapsed, knocking out her satellite communications.

Rescuers in a chartered jet flew from Perth on Australia's west coast and spotted the 16-year-old's boat, Wild Eyes, on Thursday. She was able to radio to the plane to say she was in good health and had plenty of food supplies.

The Cross maritime rescue centre on the island of Reunion, off Madagascar, said it had sent three boats in her direction.

Centre director Philippe Museux told French RFO television station in Reunion that it had asked a fishing boat to head to the area.

The rescue was planned to take place this afternoon at Abby's location, allowing for plenty of daylight, family spokesman Jeff Casher said.

He said an Australian search and rescue spotter plane was expected to reach the teenager shortly after the French vessel. Crews on the plane had been talking to the French fishermen to try to determine the best way of getting Abby from one boat to the other.

The French fishing boat is considerably larger than the teenager's yacht and, in the rough seas without special equipment, transfer could be difficult.

One option being considered is for Abby to climb into her life raft and then be hoisted into the French boat. It is likely she would scupper her boat as she left it, probably by flooding it, because the cost of towing it back to the US would be too high, Mr Casher said.

Abby set out from Los Angeles County's Marina del Rey on January 23, trying to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo.

Her brother, Zac, held the record for a little more than a month last year until Briton Mike Perham completed his own journey. The record changed hands again last month, when 16-year-old Australian Jessica Watson completed her own round-the-world voyage.

Abby ran into equipment problems and had to stop for repairs soon after beginning her journey. She gave up the goal of setting the record in April, but continued, hoping to complete the journey.

She had been keeping in contact with her parents through satellite communications and had made several broken calls to her family in Thousand Oaks, reporting her yacht was being tossed by 30ft (9m) waves - as tall as a three-storey building. An hour after her last call ended on Thursday, her emergency beacons began signalling.

Australia's military has two maritime patrol aircraft ready to help if needed, saying the planes could fly from Mauritius to support the rescue ships and drop emergency supplies to the young sailor.

Her parents have come under criticism from some observers for allowing the high-risk adventure.

Veteran sailors questioned the wisdom of sending a teenager off alone in a small boat, knowing it would be tossed about for 30 or more hours at a time by the giant waves which rake the Southern Hemisphere's oceans at this time of year.

Her father, Laurence, defended the voyage.

"I never questioned my decision in letting her go," he told reporters yesterday. "In this day and age we get overprotective with our children. If you want to look at statistics, look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it'd be silly if we didn't."

Abby was contacted by rescuers in a chartered Qantas Airbus A330 jet which made a 4,700-mile (7,600km) round trip from Perth to her yacht, which is near the limit of its range.

They spotted her on the back deck of her boat. Its sail was dragging in the water but the teenager appeared to be in good shape.

She told searchers yesterday that she was doing fine with a space heater and at least two weeks' worth of food.

Mr Casher said her vessel was so badly damaged that her attempt to circle the globe was over.

"This is the end of the dream. There's no boat to sail," he said.

The Australian maritime authority did not say how much the rescue mission would cost but said it would not be seeking compensation for the search, which initially fell just outside of Australia's search and rescue region.

It was not immediately clear if the French vessel would seek compensation.