Jessica Watson's Round-the-World Voyage

[SvenG]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

He went a more daring but faster route than Jessica, staying at around latitude 50S, where Jessica preferred the longer route around 40S. This did not add to the WSSRC calculated distance for Jessica since it is the theroretical distance past one waypoint and around relevant capes that is used for calculation.

Thanks for that information. A rugged character !




-Sven

[RichardInMd]

A picture are worth a thousand words. This is just fifty seven nm from Sydney a few days ago . I looks like she is having fun! Richard

[Hirophant]

Originally Posted by SvenG

One sponsor seems seriously upset: Sponsor slams 'orchestrated' voyage

That guy is not listed as a sponsor on her website (and never has been). He is listed as an "official supplier". I'm not sure what the distinction is exactly but presumably it means he didn't give her the kit for free (he supplied the Rutland wind generators and solar panels I believe), I would imagine he just gave her a discount or something to get "supplier" status. He first griped about her on his website when she hit that cargo ship last year (I'm not saying he doesn't have a point, but it shows his critical stance is not new).

[pressuredrop]

i am assuming her boat had an engine? correct? anyone know her total runtime for the trip if it is not zero? that would be awesome if she did it engineless, but i dont think that is part of the unassisted requirements though...

[RichardInMd]

Originally Posted by pressuredrop

i am assuming her boat had an engine? correct? anyone know her total runtime for the trip if it is not zero? that would be awesome if she did it engineless, but i dont think that is part of the unassisted requirements though...

An hourmeter on a diesel has nothing to do with whether it was used for propulsion. Her diesel was used only to charge the batteries. She always made a point in her blog to say that it was started out of gear.

Richard

[Hirophant]

Originally Posted by RichardInMd

For Kay Cottee, waypoints: Stanley(falklands) - Noronho - Kergulean - Hobart which gave a total distance of 17973nm. Her actual northernmost point was St Peter & St Paul Islands which are about 4°45" north of Noronho so add 570nm to give c.18500nm +/-

This sounds like the route Jessica originally planned, she didn't specify a rounding point but she was going to visit the equator in the Atlantic, and my assumption was that she would have used St.Peter & St.Paul Island since that is just over the equator (she just vaguely says "the doldrums" in her blog). On her original route, Jess was also going to start/end at Brisbane and round the SW Cape of New Zealand. This makes the route is about 500nm longer than the route she eventually did, but still a long way short of a great circle. Starting and ending at Sydney would make Kay Cottee's route even shorter than Jessica's by my reckoning, about 200nm shorter, or even more if she skipped NZ's cape!

For Jessica, waypoints: Kiritimati-Tahiti - Tristan de Cunha - Kergulean - Hobart gives 18755nm

Adding extra staging points would ultimately make her route long enough if you can find enough landmarks, since you converge on her sea miles (which we know were more than enough). When I added the obvious ones I mad up about half of her shortfall, I didn't add the Falklands though. The main ones left to add would be some Pacific islands, since she departed from the great circle by heading pretty much due south for quite a while. I don't know which ones she "rounded" though.

Note that you can't have both Kerguelen and Amsterdam Isle since she can't do both. Jess went north of Amsterdam so Kerguelen doesn't figure. I don't know what Kay did. Abby Sunderland lists Kerguelen as a staging point for distance purposes but may end up going north of it. (I don't think anyone would go via Kerguelen if they could help it, the waves there have been notorious for centuries!)
For precision (and often a bit more distance!) you need to use the capes and not nearby towns, e.g. Tasmania cape and not Hobart. Sail World's figures for rounding points of some places such as Christmas Island don't match my atlas incidentally, I make it 2° north whilst they make it less.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by RichardInMd

An hourmeter on a diesel has nothing to do with whether it was used for propulsion. Her diesel was used only to charge the batteries. She always made a point in her blog to say that it was started out of gear.

Richard

Have I been doing it wrong all my life....
I thought that was how your supposed to start your engine...
then let it warm a bit before putting it in gear...
Emergencies excepted...

[Hirophant]

Someone on her blog once claimed to have seen propellor wash in one of her photos but I think they were mistaken as the "wash" was off the starboard side not to stern which I thought unlikely if she was moving forward (and why else would she be using it?). Incidentally I just noticed most of the comments on her blog entries seem to have vanished, censorship or was the site just overloaded with 1000 comments per entry?

edit: just located the entry, 24 March - first pic was one in question, given the camera is looking forwards & starboard, not back, I don't see how it would be from the propeller unless she's decided to back up a bit!

[Noztradamus]

Originally Posted by Hirophant

This sounds like the route Jessica originally planned, she didn't specify a rounding point but she was going to visit the equator in the Atlantic, and my assumption was that she would have used St.Peter & St.Paul Island since that is just over the equator (she just vaguely says "the doldrums" in her blog). On her original route, Jess was also going to start/end at Brisbane and round the SW Cape of New Zealand. This makes the route is about 500nm longer than the route she eventually did, but still a long way short of a great circle. Starting and ending at Sydney would make Kay Cottee's route even shorter than Jessica's by my reckoning, about 200nm shorter, or even more if she skipped NZ's cape!


Adding extra staging points would ultimately make her route long enough if you can find enough landmarks, since you converge on her sea miles (which we know were more than enough). When I added the obvious ones I mad up about half of her shortfall, I didn't add the Falklands though. The main ones left to add would be some Pacific islands, since she departed from the great circle by heading pretty much due south for quite a while. I don't know which ones she "rounded" though.

Note that you can't have both Kerguelen and Amsterdam Isle since she can't do both. Jess went north of Amsterdam so Kerguelen doesn't figure. I don't know what Kay did. Abby Sunderland lists Kerguelen as a staging point for distance purposes but may end up going north of it. (I don't think anyone would go via Kerguelen if they could help it, the waves there have been notorious for centuries!)
For precision (and often a bit more distance!) you need to use the capes and not nearby towns, e.g. Tasmania cape and not Hobart. Sail World's figures for rounding points of some places such as Christmas Island don't match my atlas incidentally, I make it 2° north whilst they make it less.

1. I am Noztradamus

2. to RichardinMd
The link to my orginal post is 16 Year Old Girl to Sail Around the World Solo - Page 20 - JREF Forum (discussion on topic starts at #767)

3. Calculations were made using http://216.147.18.102/dist/-/ not what I'd put forward as definative on a serious sailing forum, but over there it, and I, are well above the norm.

4. Basically I used the limited options available to give a very rough approximation of the voyages
a. using legitimate waypoints
b. to generate the best facsimile of the voyages

eg for Kay Cottee Sydney-Stanley gave a voyage going south of NZ, skimming the Antarctic IceWall in the approved WSSRC manner, and going through Drake Passage.

For Jessica, Kiritimati-Tristan de Cunha crosses S.America. adding Tahiti just skims Cape Horn

Similarly Tristan de Cunha-Hobart crosses Antartica. Kergulean is the only intermediate option (IsleAmsterdan is not available) that gives a reasonable approximation of her route

Disclaimer
No warranty, or statement of fitness of purpose is given for this application. All emphasis is on the user to verify values. In particular, this application should not be used for safety critical applications such as navigation, aeronautics, etc.

[sabray]

good lord I didnt like the record thing but this analysis is nuts. The kid sailed pretty dam well. I dont care if she did start her motor. Didn't use the drogue. As far as Im concerned if she sailed East and kept going tell she wound up where she started from she sailed in a circle. How she avoided falling off the edge of the earth Im baffled. A few hundred years ago well this was just plain unthinkable actually impossible as the earth was flat. She would have been the youngest to fall off the edge of the earth. I hope only a select few kids think about doing this and they do it because its their dream.

[boatman61]

ROFL.... it is getting a bit 'Techie'...
its over.. she's done it.. who REALLY cares how...
its an achievement of survival by a 16yr old thats challenged and killed big strong men for 50 odd years...
Or is that why its got to be chewed to death...

I'm happy to admit she's got bigger balls than me...
and most who know me personally consider my attitude to solo sailing suicidal...

[SvenG]

Originally Posted by Hirophant

That guy is not listed as a sponsor on her website (and never has been).

You are right that it depends on what is meant by supplier since it says he provided the generators, not that he donated them.

The other connection is that it says

Mr Still bought the hull of the boat, which was originally named Shanty, before assembling it in his Melbourne front yard and sailing it more than 30,000 nautical miles.

Which makes it sound like a kit boat ? It doesn't say he donated it either.

Strange.



-Sven

[sabray]

Earth it is flat which is obvious from the charts and screen I am studying. If you continue in one direction you simple fall off the screen. lying witch The church will have something to say of this behavior. If you continue with this rhetoric we will smoke you out and drip artificially flavored garlic powder on your key board.

[surfingminniwinni]

Originally Posted by SvenG

I thought the video of Jesse and Jessica on her boat as they were sitting side by side while Mike was at the helm was very telling. She looked incredibly uncomfortable, quiet and stiff. Since she had publicly said that she wasn't just going to break his record but that she was "going to smash it" I can think of a couple of reasons why she would be uncomfortable next to him at the end.

-Sven

Absolute garbage! Were you on Pink Lady? No.

I know Jesse Martin, and he is very fond of Jessica, he seems to care less about his record than you do. I was there when Jessica said she was going to smash his record and it was said in jest, to Jesse's face. You know as a joke!!!

God how much longer are you guys going to re live her incredible journey on your keyboards? She has done it its over.

[SvenG]

Originally Posted by surfingminniwinni

I was there when Jessica said she was going to smash his record and it was said in jest, to Jesse's face.

YouTube - Jessica Watson on The 7PM Project

-Sven