Searchers make contact with teen sailor

Abby Sunderland, 16, looks out from her sailboat, Wild Eyes. Photo / AP

A family spokesman says searchers have contacted a 16-year-old Southern California girl who was feared lost at sea and she is alive and well.

William Bennett said searchers aboard an Airbus A330 spotted Abby Sunderland's boat in an upright position and made contact with her via radio.

Speaking outside the family's Thousand Oaks home, Bennett said Abby was inside the boat and doing fine with a space heater and at least two weeks worth of food.

Bennett said the mast had broken off the disabled boat.

He said a fishing vessel was enroute to pick her up. The vessel is expected to reach her in about 40 hours.

A desperate search mission was earlier launched for the 16-year-old who hit trouble in her bid to sail solo around the world.

She set off her emergency beacons yesterday in stormy conditions in a remote part of the Indian Ocean, more than 3000km from both Australia and Africa.

She is attempting the same goal as Jessica Watson - to sail solo around the world - and passed the halfway mark earlier in the week, having left the United States in late January.

Australian authorities are heading the international search effort, with a Qantas surveillance plane expected to be the first on the scene sometime after 3pm (5pm NZT).

Three other boats, co-ordinated by the French and American authorities, are also on their way, with the first unlikely to arrive until Saturday afternoon.

Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Carly Lusk told a radio station the plane had a Qantas crew on board as well as 11 trained air observers from West Australian emergency services and two water police officers.

But Ms Lusk said one of the biggest challenges faced by rescue teams was the treacherous weather conditions in the search zone.

"There are extremely rough seas so spotting her from an aircraft could be challenging," she said.

"As in all rescues, we remain hopeful."

Abby is a friend of Jessica Watson, the Australian with Kiwi links who became the youngest person to sail solo around the world last month.

She was hoping to beat her friend to the record but the goal eluded her when she had to pull into Cape Town for repairs in April.

Watson was believed to be keeping close tabs on the situation and had sent a message of support to the Sunderland family, news.com.au reported.

Support team member Jeff Casher said the two emergency beacons were continuing to broadcast and GPS location data showed they were together and drifting at 1 kph. He believed the beacons were on Abby's boat but said they could be with her on a raft.

Her brother Zac said: "She's got all the skills she needs to take care of what she has to take care of, she has all the equipment as well."

Zac is himself the veteran of a solo round-the-world sail at 17.
Abby's father Laurence, an Australian who lives in California, told the Sydney Morning Herald his daughter's fate was "in God's hands".

"It's going to take something out of the ordinary for her to pull through this one," he told the paper.

Abby's father Laurence hoped Abby was handling the situation calmly.

"However, we all have breaking points and she's had a couple of boisterous days out there.

"It's going to take a bit of a miracle."

The Sunderland family posted a message on Abby's blog yesterday thanking supporters for their messages of hope.

Abby's last post was Wednesday, when she said the last few days had been rough. "With the seas still huge, Wild Eyes was rolling around like crazy," she wrote.

- AP, AAP, NZHERALD STAFF