He writes that the parents know the teenagers best and know if they are capable or not. He did not mention that it would be a good idea to have an person outside the
family assess the capability during a sail trip of several hours and some kind of interview. A kind of "driver's
license test".
This was done for all three girls. Jessica did a full sail from NZ to
Australia with two
men onboard mostly for
safety and observation. Abby's dad asked a friend to do a full day's sail testing her, which she mentioned in the book, which I bought. The Dutch authority required an experienced sailor to test the sailing and
safety skill of Laura.
This kind of test of their skill has not been discussed much, probably because the opponents had already decided they should not sail, based on the age, and did not find that evidence useful.