Mother opposed to teen sailing trip

AMSTERDAM - The mother of a 13-year-old whose hopes of becoming the youngest sailor to circle the globe solo were put on hold by a Dutch court says she is opposed to the voyage.

Babs Muller said her New Zealand-born daughter, Laura Dekker, is not yet mature enough to deal with the psychological challenges of two years of being on her own.

"If it were up to me, Laura wouldn't go," Muller said. "She can sail like the devil, that's not the problem," she said, "but Laura is not yet grown up".

Muller, divorced from Laura's father Dick Dekker, was earlier reported to be unopposed to the trip.

A court last week placed Laura in the custody of child care authorities for two months, and appointed a child psychologist to report on her capacity to cope with the voyage.