Girls vs Old Men - The Jessica Watson Effect

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by paradix

. . . do we have to use this thread to re-hash all the already-rebutted comments from the previous threads?

Not for long, would be my guess.

TaoJones

[TaoJones]

For many months now, going back to before Ms. Watson departed on her epic voyage, debate that centered on her proved to be highly polarizing. Many of you will remember the very heated words that flew here in the wake of her collision with the bulk carrier, Silver Yang. There were actually two separate threads in which the pro-Jessica and anti-Jessica forces traded insults.

Because that was non-productive and seriously undermined the collegial atmosphere we try so hard to maintain here, the decision was taken to close both of those threads and end the debate over whether she should set sail on her quest, or not. The fact was, she had set sail by then, so one of the moderators put up what was to become the 909-post Jessica Watson's Round-the-World Voyage.

Sadly, when she had successfully completed her voyage, the thread became even more contentious and, for reasons we could never figure out, went way off-topic. The thread had become a significant piece of CF history over the past many months, and it was decided that the nonsense that was being posted to the thread was corrupting it - so it was closed to prevent further off-topic posts from accumulating there.

This thread was, I believe, only half-serious when it was put up, but it, too, quickly began to split along pro- and anti-Jessica lines. We could see no benefit to allowing that to happen, once again.

That said, thread closed.

TaoJones