Meet the crew

Laura Dekker 

Captain

NZ, Nl

Having lived only one year of her life in a house, Laura’s first nature are boats and water. At the age of 14 she set off on a journey to sail solo around the world, which she successfully completed at the age of 16 making her the youngest person to ever complete such a voyage. Laura love travelling, immersing in other cultures, try and learn new things and share her experiences and passions especially with the next generation which she is doing through the Laura Dekker World Sailing Foundation where she brings kids an teenagers on sailing voyages. In her quiet time Laura enjoys reading, playing the guitar and her beloved violin which she has dragged around the world several times.

First Mate

Sander Vogelenzang

Nl

Aged 11 Sander decided he wanted to have a mini 6.50. A little boat, but very fast and seaworthy making them extremely expensive. Nevertheless, this did not stop him. At the age of 17 the drawings for his own boat were ready and he successfully build his own prototype mini 6.50. He now works as a professional boat builder, sails as much as possible and of course still loves to jump on every big challenge that comes along. He is also the co-founder of The Laura Dekker World Sailing Foundation and together with Laura they bring kids and teenagers on voyages around the world.

Expedition Leader

Prentice ‘Tripp’ Brower

US

Tripp is the co-founder and captain of Apparent Winds and SV Resilience. He is a life-long sailor with a passion for people and community and has been sailing the world’s ocean full time since 2019. In his early career, Tripp was a sailing instructor, wooden boat builder and founder of a non-profit called, Lowcountry Maritime School, which is dedicated to teaching young people science, technology engineering and math (STEM) using boat building as a hands-on teaching platform. That organization now works in schools in the US with thousands of children having already gone though the program and Tripp still resides on the board for the organization. 

Marine Biologist & Researcher

Kiera Rumbough

US

Kiera is the co-founder of Apparent Winds, and is sailing around the world on SV Resilience, collecting and sharing stories of people who are protecting their environment and culture. The ship is used as an affordable sailing marine research platform. Kiera is from Connecticut in America and studied Marine Science, Biology, and Environmental Science at the University of Miami. She is very passionate about the intersection of culture and environment and enjoys studying the ocean both in theory and in practice, as she is an avid scuba diver and free diver. Her other interests includes music and delicious food.

Cinematographer

Jono Allen

AU

Jono is an Australian underwater photographer, environmental scientist and filmmaker. His work is driven by one motivation: To inspire positive action by facilitating meaningful connections with wildlife. Jono’s life took an unexpected turn when he helped rescued an entangled whale shark in the Maldives together with a local friend. Shortly afterwards he co-founded the Fuvahmulah Marine Foundation to help address plastic pollution and wildlife entanglement on the island. Since he has founded Blue Vagabonds, a marine expedition company offering face to face encounters and profound connections with marine life around the world. Jono’s work has been featured in world-class underwater photography competitions and publications and he is nominated to be the World Nature Photographer of the year 2026.

Creative & Content Creator

Marie frederiksen

DK

Part time creative part time adventurer, Marie set off on her first solo voyage at the age of 19. Growing up in Denmark with land under her feet, she always felt drawn to the ocean, and as soon as she stepped on a boat she fell in love with sailing and life aboard. Curious by nature and different ways of life, she has traveled across the Atlantic, boat-hitched around the Caribbean to America, and joined several expeditions with Laura and Sander. Today Marie really enjoys being a part of projects close to her heart, such as this one. Her passion lies with the next generation and positive change. Having a background in communication as a recognized concept developer and art director her role on this expedition is both being crew member as well as communication squid. 

Administration & Operations

Florian Lakeman

NL

Florian is a Dutch sailor and supervisor living fulltime on his sailboat. He started sailing with his dad during the holidays and at 12 he joined the sea cadets. He crewed on a clipper during the summer holidays in the Netherlands and bought his own first small cabincruiser as soon as he could afford it. Florian raced in the mini 650 circuit from 2011 to 2015 and later he crossed the Atlantic with Sander and Laura. Florian already has Arctic sailing experience as he crewed on a sailing expedition to Svalbard in 2024. He enjoys motorcycling and his favourite food is pancakes. 

Underwater Operations

LORENZO SACCO

IT

Lorenzo has been sailing constantly since he was 9. He started when he was not in school but later it became a full-time passion and job. For a few years he has now been a part of foundation dedicated to exploration and helping youth in need by giving them the opportunity to sail and visit places they would not otherwise get to see. On board his primary role is Second Officer but he is also responsible for the crew, training new people and technical diving as they also conduct marine research. Lorenzo enjoys sharing his knowledge and over the years he has turned his love for the sea into his lifestyle. As a true Italian, he loves cooking, especially when there are others around to enjoy it. One of his best dishes is pizza, but he also makes a great baked fish.

Deckhand

Tim

NZ, NL

Tim is Laura and Sander's oldest child, and the youngest crew member onboard Guppy. He loves watching the birds and sea-life and watching the moon and stars in the rare circumstances he’s up late enough to see it. He creates a big part of the entertainment and likes to help in whatever duties need to happen. Furthermore, he enjoys swimming, music and dancing and building things from Lego.

Crew

ALEX

NZ, NL

Laura and Sander's youngest child has sailed 25,000 Nautical miles + 10,000 Nautical Miles in mommy’s belly and was born onboard Guppy. He does not know anything other than boat life and is curious and learning about any and everything. Besides that he’s good at keeping us busy practising “stuff" overboard manoeuvres.

Crew ashore

Maybe you?

We welcome everyone from all around the world to become our fellow crew ashore! Maybe your school would like to team up with us to join our live classroom sessions (see our partnership options) or maybe you would like to follow the expedition in the Coldest Classroom. Either way we hope to see you.