(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR ANTHONY MARTINEZ

A Dutch teenager completed a round-the-world sailing trip Saturday on the island of St. Maarten. She claims to be the youngest person to ever finish the journey. HLN has her story.

“Laura Dekker spent more than 500 days at sea and she travelled 27,000 miles. She says she had to dodge storms and dangerous reefs along the way. She even had to change her route to avoid pirates.”

The Fox and Friends crew say the feat is even more incredible because she kept hitting the books while she was at sea.

“All this while trying to keep up with school work that she brought along for the ride. Now, I’d give her a pass on the schoolwork for that year if you’re fending off pirates.”

But schoolwork actually plays a big part in the teen’s story -- authorities say she didn’t do enough of it. It’s all part of a three-year legal saga that almost prevented her from taking the trip altogether. Al Jazeera reports.

“Laura’s feat ought to be a matter of national pride for her homeland the Netherlands, but she and her family have been battling with authorities there ever since she made her plans known at the age of 13.”

Dutch child care workers said she was too young and inexperienced for the trip. They tried to stop her plans, even taking her into protective custody for two months, before they finally agreed to let her go. Keeping up with a distance learning program was part of the deal.

On her blog, Dekker recently lashed out at authorities.

“Over a period of 11 months, I was constantly afraid that Youth Care would lock me up. Also during this period, there were intimidating interviews with Youth Care workers. It was all a frightening and traumatic experience.”

Dekker has made it clear she doesn’t plan to go home to the Netherlands out of fear of legal troubles. She spent the last leg of her journey flying the flag of New Zealand, where she also has citizenship. But the BBC spoke to a youth care worker who defended the government’s actions.

“If Laura had drowned we'd be accused of not doing enough to protect her … Thank God she's OK and I think that's partly due to the safety measures we enforced … I'm sorry Laura is traumatised but I have no regrets about fulfilling our responsibility to this child.”

While she’s being celebrated as the youngest solo round-the-world sailor, her name won’t appear in any official records. Guinness World Records and the World Speed Sailing Council no longer track youngest sailors, for fear of encouraging risky journeys by minors.