New York: A 16-year-old girl trying to sail solo around the world who was missing in the Indian Ocean some 2,000 miles east of Madagascar has been found by a search plane and is in good condition, her parents said on Friday.
The girl, Abby Sunderland of Thousand Oaks, Calif., departed alone Jan. 23 in her sailboat Wild Eyes. On Thursday, she lost satellite phone contact with her family and set off emergency beacons, triggering a rescue effort by United States, Australian and French authorities. Ms. Sunderland was trying to break the record for the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe, a title held briefly by her older brother Zac, who completed his sail last year at 17.
"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," Ms. Sunderland's parents reported on her blog.
"We don't know much else right now. The French fishing vessel that was diverted to her location will be there in a little over 24 hours. Where they will take her or how long it will take we don't know," they said.
Earlier, her parents said they last spoke with their daughter at about 4 a.m. Thursday, when Ms. Sunderland was reporting swells of 30 feet.
"She was having trouble with the engine and had taken on some water but she felt upbeat," Mr. Pinkston said. An hour later the family was alerted that two G.P.S. emergency beacons had been activated, one on the boat and one on Ms. Sunderland's survival suit.
The two nearest ships -- the fishing boat and a French naval vessel -- were headed toward the location of Ms. Sunderland's emergency beacons.
In a blog post on Wednesday, Ms. Sunderland reported huge seas and a torn sail.
"The wind is beginning to pick up," she wrote. "It is back up to 20 knots and I am expecting that by midnight tonight I could have 35-50 knots with gusts to 60 so I am off to sleep before it really picks up."