Rescued teen sailor Abby Sunderland embarks on flight home to California

US teen sailor leaves on flight home to California

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion — Sixteen-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland is homeward bound — though her plane flight back to California isn’t the homecoming she originally imagined when she set off in hopes of sailing around the world.

About two weeks after her rescue at sea, Sunderland departed Sunday from the French island of Reunion, off the southeastern coast of Africa, en route to France, then on to California.

The American teenager’s attempt to sail solo around the world ended June 10 when her mast snapped in an Indian Ocean storm, sparking an extensive international rescue mission. She had already in April given up hope of becoming the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe solo, when she was forced to stop for repairs.

Sunderland, who said before boarding the plane that she was looking forward to seeing her family again, carried a pair of large blue gum boots given to her as a memento by French fishing boat that rescued her in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.

After her rescue, it took about two more weeks at sea to reach Reunion. Sunderland’s 18-year-old brother, Zac, was there to greet her as she arrived Saturday. At age 17, Zac Sunderland briefly held the record his sister had hoped to beat.

Abby Sunderland has dismissed concerns about her young age, saying she was well-prepared for the trip, and has said all the criticism of her parents was “ungrounded.”

Her parents were awaiting her return at the family home in Thousand Oaks, California, where her mother is soon to give birth to her eighth child. Sunderland is expected to give a news conference in southern California on Tuesday.