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Old 25-05-2010, 11:20   #31
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Intimidated? Heck no. I'd race her around the cans. I'm more intimidated by at least a dozen CF members.

But I will admit to some emotions as I think about it.

- Jealousy. Sure. I wish someone would outfit me for a trip like that, support me as her "team" did and honestly, take care of all the details. I'd even sail a pink boat.
- Suspicion (as in Suspect - maybe), It's clear she was out there alone. But as a "record" or some giant feat I have some suspicion about what it means. Forget the age and the gender. She had 24 X 7 comms, continual weather and route guidance, gps navigation and multiple redundant autopilots. Anyone who did this feat even as late as 1980 (or later) would not have had any of the major technology that Pink Lady had.
- Indifference (maybe?). As has been pointed out. There are lot's of other people going around the world. This person did it "non-stop, unassisted, blah, blah, blah" but the indifference is the fact that I don't really appreciate anyone who gains media attention and converts it to profitable gain.

So I will expand the last item. Has the sport, hobby or any aspect of sailing been furthered by this journey? Were new technologies created, limits pushed, boundaries expanded? Not that I can tell. The guys sailing cats at 35 knots or what ever are kicking technology's ass.

The wealth and stature of basketball players, football players, tennis players, musicians,movie stars etc. etc. are all a result of a bored population. In the 1600's we would have called them court Jester's and we really wouldn't give a damn who they boinked, who they adopted or what they thought of Ozone, world peace any other serious damn topic.

I really don't get celebrity. My dad said two things...

Fool's names and fool's faces always appear in public places.

- and -

Even Heddy Lamar squats. (apparently she was a hottie when the world wasn't quite so warm)
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Old 25-05-2010, 11:22   #32
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Originally Posted by CSY Man View Post
Don't know about being intimidated by this chick or anybody else, but found it irresponsible to sail solo without a proper lookout as required by the regulations.

Quite selfish to ignore the safety of others just to sail into some record book.

The above of course goes for old men sailing solo around the world, pure ego trip, not sailing or sport.
I think CSY Man has it just about right. At a place like CF, proposals for solo, nonstop, unassisted circumnavigations are likely to receive a negative reaction because they are the antithesis of cruising. Many of us wish we could sail around the world - with a partner, for 5 years, or forever, and with as many stops as possible. Unless you have a multimillion dollar space age boat, there are no more circumnavigation records to break. Yeah you can claim to be the youngest, oldest, most handicapped, smallest boat, whatever. But, if you do it in an ordinary boat, it is inherently dangerous, takes many months, and contradicts just about everything that makes cruising fun. The biggest difference between Jessica Watson and a 40 year old male professional sailor/racer is that her age/size/gender/parents provide a convenient distraction from the real issue. Extended solo sailing is dangerous. A solo, nonstop, unassisted circumnavigation involves extreme risk, and in the end simply allows you to say "I did it." There has always been a financial reward (Slocom lined up his publisher before he left), but you have to survive and succeed to get it. If you do, maybe you can afford to go cruising instead.

I’m so damn old I remember Jon Sanders’ triple solo circumnavigation. It was universally acclaimed - a truly jaw dropping achievement, but there was also and always an underlying feeling that he must be nuts.
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Old 25-05-2010, 14:15   #33
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It's pretty sad to see the increasing population of people on this planet who want to keep OTHER people from following their dreams.

Hey, if YOU don't want to sail around the world, fine. Don't do it. But basically it's none of your business if someone else does want to.
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Old 25-05-2010, 14:38   #34
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So I will expand the last item. Has the sport, hobby or any aspect of sailing been furthered by this journey? Were new technologies created, limits pushed, boundaries expanded? Not that I can tell. The guys sailing cats at 35 knots or what ever are kicking technology's ass.
Have any aspects of sailing been furthered by this journey?

In recent months, sailing clubs in Australia are reporting huge increases in the number of kids, particularly girls, wanting to learn and take up sailing. Was the impetus for this growth in youngsters taking an interest in sailing caused by public interest in Jessica's trip, or by billionaires spending millions on two-race wonder-boats? I have an inkling, but maybe ask the sailing clubs themselves.

Jess Watson inspires kids to sail | Sunshine Coast News | Local News in Sunshine Coast | The Sunshine Coast Daily

I personally know several cruisers who have adapted and developed their boats for improved safety and/or long-term reliability as a direct result of information from Jessica about what worked / didn't work on her journey. Yes, high-tech multihulls are great for "kicking technology's ass", but equally endurance sailing in yachts specifically set up for short-handed less-strong individuals are great for testing other boundaries.

So yes, aspects of sailing have definitely been furthered by Jessica's journey, on at least two counts.
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Old 25-05-2010, 14:52   #35
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So yes, aspects of sailing have definitely been furthered by Jessica's journey, on at least two counts.
Count one - marketing rules, pink sells.

Count two - it is OK to lock oneself in the cabin and wait for a knock-down.

b (an intimidated OMF (old male fart)).
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Old 25-05-2010, 15:00   #36
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b (an intimidated OMF (old male fart)).

If you're intimidated now, wait until you meet Claire... A 12yr old winning senior races in 30-footers.

Actually the quote by the first commenter (fishpk) in the story below reminds me of a third aspect of sailing which has been furthered by Jessica's journey, although admittedly not one which might appeal to OMFs...

Coast girl following in Watson's wake Local Gold Coast News | goldcoast.com.au | Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
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Old 25-05-2010, 15:19   #37
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It's pretty sad to see the increasing population of people on this planet who want to keep OTHER people from following their dreams.

Hey, if YOU don't want to sail around the world, fine. Don't do it. But basically it's none of your business if someone else does want to.
In the case of JW didn't turn out that way but when someone that is untrained and unprepared wants to sail around the world and SAR has to go bail them out it is my business since that cost comes out of my tax dollars. This is not idle speculation, it happens fairly often.

There is a guy that has "followed his dreams" to climb Mt Ranier and has required SAR a couple of times to chopper him out at great expense. So is it society's job to keep paying for this guy's incompetence?
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Old 25-05-2010, 15:39   #38
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"Intimidated" is the wrong word. Troubled? That might fit my own feelings better. In my case it has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with how this girl played the gender card. Her first step in planning her trip was to paint the boat pink and hold a press conference. Second step was to plaster the internet with posed photos highlighting her femininity. She followed up all this publicity by ramming the pink boat into a freighter her first night out. Ouch.
This comes perilously close to "Wealthy parents gave spoilt inexperienced girl million dollar boat for her birthday. And by the way she crashed."
I had thought such attitudes were by now confined to ABC and university boards where the intelligensia hang out.

I was vaguely aware of her voyage before the incident, with the usual questions "are you sure this is wise?", "is she capable enough?". Then after the incident it was "WTF happened?".

But it was two lines in a newspaper which intrigued me (wow! first item on my Google search: ain't the Internets grand!)
Quote:
"Her parents contacted the our rescue co-ordination centre which advised Watson to turn her motor back on and head to Stradbroke Island," Ms Jiggins said.

Watson, who is now 15 nautical miles from shore, later agreed to travel to Southport on the Gold Coast and is expected to arrive in the next two hours.
And I thought "She is 16, and has just done something pretty dumb, and gone through the most frightening experience she is ever likely to survive. No less than the Australian Maritime Safety Authority advises her to head to the nearest safe anchorage (as they should have). <snip> assumed discussion on radio</snip> She eventually agrees to head to the nearest marine yard with a yacht lift".
Thoughts
1. That was probably her plan anyway
2. Even in the aftermath of the incident, her brain is still working and she is still planning
3. She is either very determined, or very pig-headed.

Now I'm intrigued, so I go on the internets. And I find that her first step in planning her trip wasn't to paint the boat pink and hold a press conference. Indeed it may be that her venture was the best planned and prepared solo-circumnavigation ever. So I'm back to "WTF happened?" The only answer seemed to be "worse things happen at sea" - bad luck. And she was probably going to make it.

Quote:
I'd be much more impressed by a voyage where a young person, male or female, quietly and reflectively went about the process of passage-making as a voyage of discovery.
I think she's done that. She just took us along for the ride.

Quote:
Rather than blogging about how many times you've been knocked down, learn to sail in such a way that knockdowns are avoided.
Like the Monty Pythons advice on "How not to be seen: be somewhere else", the way to avoid knockdowns seems to be to avoid the Southern Ocean.

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Then, once you've completed your quest, take the reflection a step further, again quietly, via memoir. At that point you may have something worth reading.
I'd buy it.
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Old 25-05-2010, 16:01   #39
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Women do this to each other all the time. ... Maybe men do this too, I wouldn't know since I'm not one.
Well, I am a man and here is my 2p worth

- What she did is a heck of an achievement for any 16 year old
- There will always be inadequates of either sex who resent others doing better than themselves
- Personally, I never take other people's choices as a reflection on me unless I trained them or recommended them

Putting aside misogynists and other strange creatures, I think a lot of men respect ability and achievement regardless of who does it. One of the best pilots who ever trained me was female and she knew her stuff and the blokes in the club knew it. No one argued technical issues with her. I have seen this is other areas too, in business and commerce and particularly in small businesses. Competence and ability are usually respected.

As regards your point about women critiquing other women, my wife complained about this when training to be an electrical engineer. If she told a man about it she usually got a raised eyebrow and a "Good for you!". If she told a woman about she usually got a disbelieving look and a "Why are you doing that? What's wrong with you?" response. She insists that there is no one for holding a woman back like another woman.

My worry about the Jessica Watson business is not her gender, it is more her age. At 16 she is not fully mature mentally. I am of the opinion that the human animal does not really mature until they hit their mid-20s and although Ms Watson is vastly more experienced in sailing than I am, she is still only 16. My age lets me cope with lots of things and I have learned how to deal in high stress situations simply because I have been practising dealing with them for longer than Jessica Watson has been alive. I also no longer suffer from teenage angst or self-doubt. I am, in the modern parlance, happy in my own skin. I know my abilities and limitations. I grant you that she has had to learn quickly, but what sort of effect will it have on her personality?

Where does this trend stop? What do we do with 15 year olds who want to fly solo, or 13 year olds who want to circumnavigate? What happens when one of these children goes off and their yacht is later found with no one on board? Will periods of extended loneliness affect their social development? Will the enforced - accelerated - maturity make it hard for them to fit back in to their social milieu again?

A friend of mine has an 8 year old kid who can fly my flight sim quite well and I find the sim harder than the real aircraft. Should we strap him and launch him into the blue?

There are lots of questions here, but age is the real concern, not gender.
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Old 25-05-2010, 16:05   #40
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Jessica’s publisher, Hachette Australia, are proud to announce that the title of her book will be Jessica Watson - True Spirit, which will be available in August.
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Old 25-05-2010, 16:38   #41
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My dad said two things...

Fool's names and fool's faces always appear in public places.

- and -

Even Heddy Lamar squats. (apparently she was a hottie when the world wasn't quite so warm)



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Old 25-05-2010, 16:52   #42
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Good for her.

Alot to be said for a kid that has the "stick to it" to sail around the marble. Regarding age, no biggie, people used ot marry at 16 and raise a family. Why not sail a boat around the world?

At 15 I was moving yachts around the great lakes, why can't she sail a boat around the world at 16?
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Old 25-05-2010, 19:50   #43
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Just to start a discussion here is what a newspaper columnist thinks of Jessica Watson from an edited extract from the London Times, May 22. The whole piece is available at:

A round-the-world voyage is just plain sailing - Times Online

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
From Times Online
May 22, 2010
A round-the-world voyage is just plain sailing
Who cares about 16-year-olds sitting in a boat? I’ll only be impressed when toddlers are canoeing the Amazon

- Giles Coren

Last Sunday the papers were full of the story of Jessica Watson, aged 16, who had just become the youngest person to sail round the world. I say “story”. But there was not really very much story at all. It was just: “Jessica Watson, 16, becomes youngest person to sail round world.” There wasn’t anything else to say because all that had happened was that this young lady had got in a boat and sat in it till it had gone round the world, then got out.

[Go to the link to read the entire article.]
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Old 25-05-2010, 19:56   #44
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I guess the OP's assertion was correct then...

Here's a much more entertaining version:

Jessica Watson Not A Hero | newmatilda.com
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Old 26-05-2010, 01:03   #45
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In the case of JW didn't turn out that way but when someone that is untrained and unprepared wants to sail around the world and SAR has to go bail them out it is my business since that cost comes out of my tax dollars.
Two points:
1) JW obviously wasn't untrained and unprepared, which may have been the point you were making, and
2) It's a mistake to see rescues of people pushing the boundaries as costing us. We get this argument in our papers every time it happens and it fails to recognise that most of the rescue/navy personel are being paid whether they're sitting waiting for a call out, or out rescuing someone. If the budget isn't being spent rescuing people it gets spent trying to create artificial disaster situatioins for them to practice on.

Who would you rather have coming to rescue you, a team that has done all the theory and sanitised risk free exercises, or the team that has loads of experience rescuing real people, even the self destructive idiots, in real time disaster/accident situations? I know which I'd prefer.

Governments waste millions of our tax dollars on all kinds of rediculous causes and activities. Rescue services is not one of them, IMHO.
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