Abby Sunderland sets sail--Anyone have a problem with this?

[ChessieSailor]

Abby Sunderland, high school junior, leaves for a nonstop west-east solo circumnavigation in Open 40, planning to round Cape Horn and head ENE between the Roaring Forties and the Furious Fifties and then... well, you can hear her tell it. What does everyone think of this?? You go girl, or what the *&$# Dad, have you lost your mind??

Abby Sunderland sets course on a record - latimes.com

[knothead]

There's no wrong there's no right. There's no black there's no white. In the dead of the night. The doubts come.

Is she safe? Is she well? Was I right? Time will tell. Meanwhile, to this hell I succumb.

[tdw]

I used to be a critic of these young kids but looking at the way Jessica Watson seems to be handling herself (gee that could be misinterpreted but only by the foul minded ) I now think its all down to the individual.

Only time will tell if AS has what is required. Her age now seems an irrelevency.

[Flybyknight]

I think that the greatest danger she faces comes not from the sea, in that boat, but from the 2 legged sort.
My prayers are not for her, but for her parents, who will probably age 10 years in the next 6 months.

Dick

[puddinlegs]

Nope... no problems with it at all.

[soulofmine]

All the best to her, but damn, check your priorities. This isn't an item on your list of chores that you just check off quick and easy. Her description at the map was disheartening...."and then, i'll go down here, or maybe up here..." wow! I have a hard time being optimistic about this, which is odd for me. I am all for adventures, and I hate it when my parents corral my endeavors, but there is a healthy reason for what they do. Any fault on her journey I believe falls on the parents. Again, all the best and I hope she proves me wrong.

[fjon]

Originally Posted by knothead

There's no wrong there's no right. There's no black there's no white. In the dead of the night. The doubts come.

Is she safe? Is she well? Was I right? Time will tell. Meanwhile, to this hell I succumb.

Yes.

.

..

... With Jessica I went through something like curious, skeptical, concerned, skeptical, hopeful, impressed, and thoughtful.

The most interesting thing to me now is the arc of their transformation as they go through this juicy crucible. After thoughtful, I think I have sensed in myself a preliminary feeling of ... envy.

[dylanwinter1]

she is still almost a child and should be doing all sorts of other, safer things not getting frightened in a boat in a storm

this is one crazy world

[leland515]

I make sure to plan most of my adventures when I'm outside of school.
And I'm really getting tired of 13-16yr old girls trying to prove themselves..

[sailingdog]

As I've said before, a lot of whether this is a safe thing for them to do depends on them. Given Abby's experience and history as a sailor, and the fact that she does come from a family with a strong sailing background and probably has more miles at sea than most of the posters on sailnet... No, I'm not too worried about it.

Personally, I think her choice of boats could have been better thought out...since an Open 40 is a bit less forgiving and requires the captain to be a bit more on top of her game than a more seakindly choice like Jessica Watson's S&S designed 34' boat.

Also, the greatest danger for Abby and Jessica are probably the two-legged critters that they might meet along the way. Weather can be dealt with better than in earlier times, especially with modern weather forecasting and communications equipment.

I'd point out that there have been people much older than Abby and Jessica, who didn't have the experience, knowledge or maturity that either of these young ladies seem to possess, and were far less qualified to attempt such an undertaking. Ken Barnes comes to mind, as does his protegé David Vann—neither of whom came anywhere close to succeeding I might point out.