Jessica Watson

[Wotname]

[reiner]

No Question JW is a true Hero in my books but what about the parents. I have two daughters and try to imagine what they went through in those 7 months.
What a great family, we need more of them.

[paradix]

Originally Posted by SvenG

Borrowed from someone else, in a non-sailing context:

"How do the 25-percenters get away with it ?

They simply repeat their claims until people get tired of correcting them."


-Sven

And that's why I'll keep popping up to correct your claims, Sven

Jessica has sailed single-handed, non-stop and unassisted around the world, a "claim" which even Nancy Knudsen accepts is true (reference 1 below). Jessica appears to be the youngest to have done so. If you know of someone younger (making Jessica's claim to be the youngest thereby false), please cite your sources.

Jesse Martin does not hold the WSSRC record for the youngest person to sail single-handed, non-stop and unassisted around the world, because that record has been discontinued by the WSSRC. He is simply the last person to hold that record before it was discontinued (reference - he told me this directly).

Regardless of the feelings of Nancy Knudsen or the WSSRC (whose self-defined rules for circumnavigation have changed often - for example, Kay Cottee's route in setting her ratified record was similar in nature and distance to Jessica's route - reference 2 below), Jessica's achievements have been accepted by those who really matter to her, including Jesse Martin, as well as previous solo circumnavigators Jon Sanders and David Dicks, with whom she was sailing last weekend (reference 3 below). I think she may even have Mike Perham on side...


Reference 1: Sail-World.com : Laura Dekker arrives Portugal, set to start solo circumnavigation

"Watson completed a non-stop, unassisted round-the-world trip a few days before her 17th birthday." - Nancy Knudsen


Reference 2: Other Kinds of Sailing Records

"First non stop, singlehanded, circumnavigation by woman (sic): Kay Cottee" - WSSRC


Reference 3: Busy Schedule and Documentary Airs

[paradix]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

That's if you beleive what you see on TV......

Huh??

Which parts of the documentary do you think were fabricated?

[Noztradamus]

Originally Posted by paradix

And that's why I'll keep popping up to correct your claims, Sven

Jessica has sailed single-handed, non-stop and unassisted around the world, a "claim" which even Nancy Knudsen accepts is true (reference 1 below). Jessica appears to be the youngest to have done so. If you know of someone younger (making Jessica's claim to be the youngest thereby false), please cite your sources.
~~~

What gets me is that Jessica, who leaves her start port at 34°S and maintains that latitude pretty much all the way, only going South to clear obstacles, and travels a actual 23000nm is said to have "taken a short cut by circumnavigating Antarctica" because of the theoretical way the WSSRC calculates the course.


While for a European start, the WSSRC course of down the Atlantic, a tight loop around Antartica at 63°S and back up the Atlantic, is a "proper" RTW circumnavigation

[GordMay]

The word circumnavigate is based in geometry, and means to travel around something, like a continent or the earth. The circumnavigation should by definition be around the entire object, or what is called a 'great circle'.

The great circle distance on Earth is roughly 21,600 nm (40,000 km); marking the minimum distance needed for the label 'circumnavigation of the earth'.

Norris McWhirter (founder of Guinness World Records) and Sir Francis Chichester (first solo circumnavigation by sailboat) had the foresight to recognize that the cleanest and most efficient way to measure a circumnavigation was for the track to pass through at least one pair of antipodal points; two places on the surface of the globe that are diametrically opposite to each other. To cross a pair of antipodal points means automatically crossing and traveling the minimum distance of the equator, and spending equal time in both southern and northern hemispheres.

Any other attempt at quantifying a circumnavigation inevitably involves a complicated combination of criteria such as minimum distances achieved, minimum number of oceans/landmasses crossed, minimum meridians crossed etc, and as such is inherently open to persistent manipulation and dispute.

[reiner]

Why did my post get the knockers out of the woodworks? I didn't mean to take anything away from Jessica and what she did. If she was my daughter I be the proudest Dad in the world. All I said was I am equally impressed with how the parents dealt with all this for 7 month.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by paradix

Huh??

Which parts of the documentary do you think were fabricated?

The part where she was handing the flag to Neil Armstrong. The shadows just don't look right.........

[bengtinge]

Jessica commented on the issue with the validity of her course in her book (page 316-318).

In short she knew about Jesse Martin's route after reading his book more than once. She also knew about the route taken by other circumnavigators such as Kay Cottee, who sailed a shorter course than Jesse Martin, even shorter than Jessica now did.

Jessica contacted WSSRC and asked about which course she had to follow. She got a little confusing answer basically saying that it was not important how she sailed since this can never be a world record, because this category does not exist anymore.

She chose to sail like Kay Cottee but making sure she crossed the Equator and all longitudes. This has before been accepted as round the world, and no one (Bruce Arms, etc) seemed to object.

Jessica also wrote in the book (page 318) that she chose the route and takes responsibility for it, and don't like the criticism that her team got. She got the impression media did not think she had any influence on decisions, like a passenger. That hinted that she failed in proving that she could sail herself.

WSSRC has not criticized Jessica for her route. It is the media who has. Maybe she should have asked the media what they would write in different scenarios. But the media does not give promises about what they are going to write, they want to be able to write what they want at any time. If you want to avoid breaking the law, read the law text. Avoiding media criticism is not so easy since there are no laws. It obviously it not enough to assume media writes the same as in an equal earlier situation. For example Abby and her father was critisised a lot for planning a TV documentary, even if it was not done, while Jessica now has a TV documentary.

When the media storm on land occurred, she was on sea and did not know much about the details. It seems that Andrew avoided blaming her and therefore silently took the criticism against him even if it was her decision not his.

[Noztradamus]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

~~~
For example Abby and her father was critisised a lot for planning a TV documentary, even if it was not done, while Jessica now has a TV documentary.
~~~~~

The appearance of Jessica's documentary should not have been a startling shock to anyone noting that her sponsors included Panasonic, 5 Oceans Media, and OneHD. Voyage documentaries are normal (Kay Cottee's "First Lady", Ellen MacArthur's "Taking on the World" et. al.)

And I don't thing there has been any real criticism of Abby's proposed voyage documentary "Abby's Journey"

The bad taste in the mouth was from the Reality Show "Adventures in Sunderland" with the 7 "adventurous Sunderland children" pretending to be Paris and Nicole.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Noztradamus

The bad taste in the mouth was from the Reality Show "Adventures in Sunderland" with the 7 "adventurous Sunderland children" pretending to be Paris and Nicole.

This is correct, Noztradamus. Did you see that Zac, the eldest of the 8, now, Sunderland children and the first to briefly hold the youngest solo circumnavigator title was recently arrested?

Sailor who went around the world arrested | www.toacorn.com | Thousand Oaks Acorn

TaoJones

[Hirophant]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

She also knew about the route taken by other circumnavigators such as Kay Cottee, who sailed a shorter course than Jesse Martin, even shorter than Jessica now did.

Actually Kay Cottee's course was slightly longer than Jessica's when measured in great circle arcs, about 400nm or so, since she crossed the Equator in the Atlantic (St Peter & Paul rocks), which involves heading pretty much straight north from Cape Horn then south to Cape of Good Hope, whereas Jessica took a diagonal route across the Pacific, NE to Xmas Island then SE to Cape Horn, cutting the corners off as it were.

Jessica's original plan would have been slightly longer than Cottee's though since it was going to be the same route as Cottee's except starting from Brisbane instead of Sydney, which would add a few hundred nms to the initial New Zealand leg (Cottee went round the bottom of New Zealand).

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by TaoJones

This is correct, Noztradamus. Did you see that Zac, the eldest of the 8, now, Sunderland children and the first to briefly hold the youngest solo circumnavigator title was recently arrested?

Sailor who went around the world arrested | www.toacorn.com | Thousand Oaks Acorn

TaoJones

18 yo drinks alcohol shock!

So sad. If he'd stopped in a few places when going RTW he'd probably never have gone back to smallville.

[bengtinge]

Originally Posted by Noztradamus

The appearance of Jessica's documentary should not have been a startling shock to anyone noting that her sponsors included Panasonic, 5 Oceans Media, and OneHD. Voyage documentaries are normal (Kay Cottee's "First Lady", Ellen MacArthur's "Taking on the World" et. al.)

And I don't thing there has been any real criticism of Abby's proposed voyage documentary "Abby's Journey"

The bad taste in the mouth was from the Reality Show "Adventures in Sunderland" with the 7 "adventurous Sunderland children" pretending to be Paris and Nicole.

I don't know what Laurence planned. I thought he planned a pure documentary of Abby's journey and some of Zac's where the producer doesn't influence the happening much. And that he cancelled it when the media company wanted a reality show with influence from the producer and emphasize on danger too much. I haven’t heard about exactly what Laurence planned, since all criticism were only based on the headline term “reality show” without anyone knowing any detail. The main criticism was as I remember, that he tried to make money on Abby's adventure. A difference to Jessica was that Jessica, not her father, seems to have signed the media deals. Better PR setup.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

I don't know what Laurence planned. I thought he planned a pure documentary of Abby's journey and some of Zac's where the producer doesn't influence the happening much. And that he cancelled it when the media company wanted a reality show with influence from the producer and emphasize on danger too much. I haven’t heard about exactly what Laurence planned, since all criticism were only based on the headline term “reality show” without anyone knowing any detail. The main criticism was as I remember, that he tried to make money on Abby's adventure. A difference to Jessica was that Jessica, not her father, seems to have signed the media deals. Better PR setup.

Abby's mother posted this to her blog on Tuesday, June 15, 2010:

"REALITY SHOW
We were approached by Magnetic Entertainment last year before Abby departed to shop a reality TV show based on our family. Abby's trip was already sponsored. Their idea was to do an inspiring show about Zac and Abby’s adventures, what our family was like and what made them as strong and independent as they are. The show was shopped and not sold. All rights were returned to us. There is no reality TV show or documentary in the works and we are not pursuing one. It is sad and ironic that some of the media - who are sensationalizing and twisting Abby’s story for profit - accuse us of doing the same thing. We can assure you that our priority is the protection of our children, something all parents will understand."

I think it's true that JW's team has produced a much better PR effort. It helped considerably that JW succeeded, of course, and that the Australian public has showered her with adoration. As the saying goes, "Nothing succeeds like success."

TaoJones