GO JESSIE GO!!!!!!

Yep it seems to be the way in OZ these days? The character of individuals is beaten out of you if you dare stick your head up, Sailing your boat around the world is against the rules of OHS and outside the bounds of Workcover So you CANT do it!! GO JESSIE GO!!

You guys are going to look pretty stupid when she's dead

Cisco- I didnt know about the General discussion thread that went on for 6 pages? There's so much negativity in there???? Why? Your comments were well informed and positive, Good on ya! Whats happened to the Aussie attitude? its heartbreaking to see so much pessimism

Wannabe said...

You guys are going to look pretty stupid when she's dead

I think your user name says exactly what your not saying. So what have you done that compares to what she's "up for"????
Ahh just like I thought SFA.

Enjoy the ride Jess. Go you good thing!

Wannabe said...

You guys are going to look pretty stupid when she's dead

Wannabe, STFU..... or did you just say what you said as troll bait? Why will we look stupid? Or, are you going to look just as stupid when she does get home safe, sound and much more wise than you may ever be? It's got nothing to do with what you or we will ever look like whether she makes it or not. She's giving something a go instead of sitting there wondering if she could actually do something with her life.

I for one won't be sorry for her if she dies trying, she'll be doing what she believes is right FOR HER. Sure, I'll be sad that she didn't make it, and very sad for her parents and all those who supported her and lost her, but think about it.

If it wasn't for people like Jessica, 99.9% of the population would never know what another country was like, because flying is way too dangerous. If someone didn't try to fly from Sydney to London, and finally make it, the whole idea would have died in it's cot. Bert Hinkler did it, he died trying. Captain Cook wouldn't have found Australia because it's too far and he might die trying to get here. Many others before him died at sea exploring the bounds of the oceans and their own personal limitations.
Space is too far and there is no air up there. People died trying to get up their, but it's not stopped them. They went to the moon with computers the size of a Mack truck yet with less computing power than your mobile phone.....or than what Jessica now has on her S&S 34.....
All of the above have not only made the world more accessible to others, but have given us some of the most brilliant inventions. GPS, Velcro, a variety of communications, including the Internet which we're all happy to make use of. Above all though, Jessica has already started to spur other young people on to do more than just sit in shopping malls with their pants around their arses and their heads buried in their mobile phones.

Give her the respect she deserves, just because you wouldn't do it doesn't mean she shouldn't.

Mick

I wish Jessica the best of luck, because i think she is going to need it.
Well said maxm, & i agree with most of what you wrote.

This whole adventure is happening in an attempt to break a record, i find it very sad that young jess will risk her life to acheive that.
Of course she will see & do some amazing things on this adventure, but she could see & do the same amazing things with crew, to spread the workload, to consult others on the spot with decision making to avoid fatal mistakes & lower the risks.
I do not think she will die, but the fact is it could happen, "easily".

I understand dreams & goals, & really experiencing life, & knowing your alive by nearly dying stuff, but leave the truly risky pursuits until your an adult.

I'm all for young people exploring, discovering & questioning, but the risks are too great on this one. The line is drawn at 18 years old for me.
It would be a very sad shame if we lose an extremely bright & ambitious child like Jess

She already holds two world records.... "the youngest solo sailor to collide with a bulk carrier" and "the youngest solo sailor to survive a collision with a bulk carrier."

whiteout said...

you guys have got it all wrong, those of you that have negative views on someone sailing around the world.
(1) all of you live in a house in relative comfort with electric lights and hot water systems drive cars to the shops and work on land.
(2) you don't live on yachts and sail places anyway, have no abition to achieve anything.
(3) live your dreary credit sucking lives in misery, listen to media reports and have never achieved any adventurous task.

Try to see what others are achieving and support Australians who are willing to have a go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whiteout

You need to look into things more and get all facts and put them together and look at the "big picture" Its like having a brand new chain with a faulty link, the chain is perfect to look at but close examination proves it to be faulty.

In this case there are many faulty links.

Good call whiteout.

So, whiteout, hoop, micmac, a few posts ago I posed a hypothetical. Care to declare your position on it? Should the three year old "have a go" while I cheer on in the comfort of my bungalow?

MicMac07 said...I think you already know the answer to your own question.

Well no, not really, after all I'm no mind reader. But I'm guessing your answer is "no". Hope so anyway.

In which case there was a second part to the question. Want to answer that one? Where do you draw the line between the two?

Well, yes, of course it's a stupid example, hoop. It's obviously intended to be an extreme position. What I'm putting to all of you is black and white (ie extreme examples) and then asking you what shade of grey you can live with.

The question has nothing to do with what I myself want or do not want to do and you certainly don't know me well enough to know whether or not I'm scared so please, lay off that angle OK?

The point is that some people are saying 16 is OK to circumnavigate alone unaided. That's fine, I can probably live with that. Personally I'd go with 18 but 16 is probably OK.

The problem I have is that the aim of the excercise is to be the youngest person around alone. So assuming she makes it then the gauntlet has been thrown down to someone else to do better. And so someone younger will go. At some point, someone too young will go and will die in the attempt. Now, I've got no problems with adults going out risking their lives on things like this. None whatsoever. But for some reason, it just rankles with me when kids are sent out to do the same.

Now, we're sailors here. Collectively, we've got a pretty good idea of what lies out there. If we can't decide this question between us then I'm damned sure the rest of the population can't. And so some idiot of a parent without a clue somewhere WILL decide that it's easy enough for their child to do it and send them out to their death. How do I know this? Because the sport of aviation has already been there and done it. Just google Jessica Dubroff and see what I mean. She was seven.

So hoop, micmac, anyone else who wants to chime in... where's your line? Answering "If you feel comfortable with your ability then have a go" just doesn't cut the mustard I'm afraid. That just leaves the door open to the idiot who wants to send another seven year old out there. If 16 is OK then how does a 7 year old facing the southern ocean sit with you? 13? 10?

C'mon, where is your line?

Obviously there has to be a line somewhere, which may be blurred by proof of ability depending on the task at hand.

A few hits on Google and you'll find a myriad of "youngest" attempts, such as this one. www.msn.com/en-au/ stating that she has been taken out of the care of her parents! They are not disputing her abilities as a sailor, but her mental acuity to accomplish the task. So, for the Dutch at least, the line is somewhere OLDER than 13.

tech.mit.edu/V116/N18/pilot.18w.html is the story of the 7 year old Pilot, she wasn't even on her own and had an instructor and her father with her, but the back story is, they were trying to meet media deadlines and took off in bad weather. Something no decent, sensible pilot would ever do..... So, who was being pushed there? For the US the line is probably somewhere OLDER than 7.....

Then there is this en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicki_Van_Meter One wonders whether the coming down from the "high" of all the fame and notariety was perhaps part of the cause of her suicide.....

On the other side of the line, Zac Sunderland (who's sister Abby is currently raising funds for an attempt), Mike Perham and Jesse Martin have all come home safely. However, like Jessica Watson, they all had the benefit of multiple electronics systems to help them steer, navigate, stay in touch and eat correctly. So one wonders whether it's really a "solo" attempt at all.

Francis Chichester - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Chichester started flying at the tender age of 18, trying to break Bert Hinkler's record from London to Sydney - then albeit a lot later, he was the first to circumnavigate the Clipper routes WITHOUT THE AID OF COMPLEX electronics, in a leaky boat and nursing an aging, aching body. If you've never read the stories here's a good start theopencritic.com/?p=11

So, for my money, it's not about the age, it's about the ability, mental preparedness and the dogged determination to succeed. Even in such adverse conditions with failing gear, if you have perseverance and courage it can be done.

One also wonders how any of these kids would go if they needed to navigate by sextant and had no radio communications, blog updates or contact with anyone but Neptune.... my guess is that they'd never actually start the journey at all.

Still, hopefully Jessica and all those who follow in her footsteps will be an inspiration to their generation, just like Chichester, Cottee, Lexcen and even Dick Smith were to my generation.

Michael

hoop said...

Christ maxm, you sound like my old man giving me a lecture when I was 16

Must be a habit from giving them out to my boys when they were 16, hoop! Few years ago now.

I understand what you say and I agree, there would always be exceptions. Somewhere there'll always be a child prodigy that can do stuff easily that normally takes adults years to master. Piano geniuses, science geniuses... no reason there couldn't be a sailing genius out there.

But they must be few and far between. By my count there are three come back, one out there, another two definitely planning and vague stories of maybe another one or two in the planning stages. I doubt they could all be sailing geniuses. So how do we know that a kid going out there is up to it? My worry is that if it's left to parents then, well... some parents just aren't good parents so I don't think they are a reliable judge.

And no, there's no 7 year olds going so maybe you're right, no need to panic. But then why the resistance? We set age limits for voting, drinking, sex and the watching of movies and none of those will kill you (OK... maybe the drinking...). There's no problem about setting an age limit on those is there? I think it'll be a bit late to panic once someone has gone.

Not intending to pick on hoop here! The questions are aimed at everyone, even MadamCaptain who says she knows me well. Didn't realise I knew anyone in WA!!