Chrisncate-
I'm not necessarily pro-teens circumnavigating solo...
I think it needs to be applied on a case by case basis. For instance, Jessica had the experience, the knowledge, the desire, the maturity and skills to do so successfully. Abbey Sunderland did not. Jessica wasn't depending on her shore crew to make most of the decisions for her voyage-Abby was in constant communication with her shore team, and from what I have heard, read, it seems that they were making a lot of the day-to-day decisions.
Jessica knew her boat, and was in charge of the re-fit of Ella's Pink Lady before the boat was used for the circumnavigation attempt. To give you an idea of the decisions that Jessica made regarding EPL, she removed a basically new diesel engine to put the engine she preferred in the boat for the voyage. On the other hand, Abby spent less than two months with her boat prior to leaving and didn't know the boat very well at all, since she had to stop a solo, non-stop circumnavigation because she couldn't manage the electrical loads on the boat properly and delayed her real departure almost a month-which probably contributed to her bad timing of entering the Southern Ocean in winter-which really just isn't done.
One other thing I've noticed, it seems as the average boat size has gotten larger, and the systems on them have gotten more complex, the level of seamanship in many cases has gone DOWN.
Ken Barnes left on a 47' steel sailboat, that had 14 batteries and multiple GPS units, autopilots, etc., but didn't even make it out of the Pacific. Donna Lange, who was circumnavigating at the same time, was on a 28' boat and finished her voyage handily, even though she was older, probably less physically capable, and on a much smaller, probably less seaworthy boat. The storm system that hammered Barnes' boat had also passed over Lange's boat earlier.
Again, Jessica was in a smaller boat with less technology, and she succeeded where Abbey in the much higher tech, higher performance boat, failed. Jessica's level of seamanship was probably much higher than Abby's to begin with. From
Jessica's blog:
Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I've had a great day. I know the words knockdown and great don't belong in the same sentence, but right now I'm feeling better than I have all week. And I don't mean that I've been feeling lousy all week, I mean that right now I've got sore cheeks from smiling all afternoon.
Abby's blog says this:
After Abby having a great shakedown cruise to Cabo, here is what we accomplished over the last 3 days with much help from Jeff, Pilot Bill, Myself, Abby's father Laurence, Cabo Captain Chris, many cabo locals, and Abby herself. A special thanks to Enrique, Norma, and especially Augusto of IGY Marina Cabo San Lucas for a warm welcome in which they went out of their way to make our stay short and sweet.
Umm...don't you think she should have done a shakedown cruise PRIOR to leaving on a circumnavigation??