Jessica Watson, no record, Tragic.

I guess it will be down to an official descision, whatever that means :confused:.

She certainly has had a battering on the approaches to the Tassie west coast, the weather has been consistantly shocking for a couple of weeks now.

Whatever the outcome is, the little lady has demonstrated incredible ability.
 
She's proved a lot of people wrong, including me.

She's got the job done, sailed around the world non-stop and single-handed.
So her route doesn't fit exactly to someone's criteria.
Stuff the rule-makers, well done girl!
 
Stuff what the rule makers say, she's done the deed and proved a lot of pontificators wrong.
A great achievement, well done Jessica.
 
No matter what they say, she has shown that she has the ability and guts to do what others only dream of. The distance thing seems to be a red herring - the "record" is only for those aged 18 and over. The comments on her website are fair and she deserves the accolade. Good on ya girl!
 
I'd echo what others have said. A stirling effort by a gutsy girl.

I hope she gets the full credit she deserves from the people that count!!
 
There is no "youngest" round the world record. And she certainly wasn't in the frame for the fastest, so I'm slightly confused by the suprise that she won't claim a record.

One very gutsy girl with a big future.
 
What a gal !

I'm sure that record or no record she is a real heroine to us .

And what an inspiration !

Learning the ability to transcend adversity will be of enormous value for the rest of her life.
 
Will, check her website - her 'people' reckon she has, or will have, passed all the criteria by the time she gets to Sydney, including distance sailed. As others have commented, there is no official record for sailors under 18 so she may not hit that particular record list.

But it will be a fantastic achievement. I had my doubts at the beginning about whether she could manage her sleeping times to stay out of danger - I know how teenagers can sleep - but I guess the collision was a sharp lesson well learnt. I have followed her blogs and she was clearly a mature young woman before she set out and is certainly more so now.

I must admit to getting riled when I hear of comparisons with the 2 most recent 'solo circumnavigations' which, whilst great journeys in their own right were assisted, had stopovers and did not pass around cape Horn. It is only the 2 Jessies who should be spoken of in the same light - both fantastic young people.
 
Well done Jessica

Yes nothing can be taken away from a fantastic effort. It is ironic that the worst weather was south of West Australia and around Tasmania.
However just to balance the story a bit. Australians can take off go south do a circumnavigation of Antarctica and go home claiming to have sailed around the world. (sounds easy but I know it is not).
If Ausies are to claim feats on the world stage then around the world must be more than just around Antarctica. She obviously knew that, in sailing up over the equator in the Pacific. Even so by comparison the girl leaving from California has to get south to the equator before going south to round the capes. There has to be some sort of accepted definition of around the world for sailing.

I hope she enjoys her final days of the voyage and gets all the acolades due.

We had an interesting documentary on tele a few weeks back about Jessie Martin. At the time youngest round the world solo sailor. After a wonderful voyage at a young age he set out to take a group of young people on a larger sail boat around the world stopping at all the places he missed. He was sponsored and took a lot of video for a TV series. It turned out to be a bit like a reality show (survivor) . A fantastic sailor he failed miserably on the people skills front, probably made worse by his hero status, and the whole voyage fizzled out in Asia.(every one left) The documentary was from the wreckage of the video taken. It is a huge challenge for these young heros to continue a mundane life after the voyage. olewill

PS sorry if I sound negative. Women, young people, Ausies and all sailors can be proud of her efforts.
 
An amazing achievement, and something to be proud of. But someone in the team should be shot for letting this happen. It is clear that she intended to sail the "official" circumnavigation distance, and someone failed to plan properly.
What she has achieved reflects very well on her. What she has failed to achieve reflects badly on her and her team.
 
flaming said:
There is no "youngest" round the world record. And she certainly wasn't in the frame for the fastest, so I'm slightly confused by the suprise that she won't claim a record.
Click to expand...

Sez who there isn't a record? If she'd done the full course she'd have had it, whatever the McWhirter twins' successor had to say.

It's a cock-up, pure and simple.
 
i think tania aebi also didn't quite do the round the world solo thing (was never non stop though), but stuff it, who cares about the rules
 
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Re Jessie Martin doco - I saw it too. Very sad. As you say, no people skills and too much dreaming when some planning was needed. He seemed reluctant to "manage" the group, perhaps because he wanted them to dream too, but it was clear the others needed a leader/manager.
We didn't have daily bloggs from Jesse but Jessica's seem to show us the reality that girls are often more mature age/age than boys.
Back to record comparisons, frankly I don't think a couple of thousand miles of distance makes much difference and all circumnavigators trying for a record (speed or age) try to take the shortest route possible. The real tests are the hardships and bad weather in the big oceans (particuarly the Sth) and the mental stability to handle the adversities alone.
It seems to me that the only way to truly compare circumnavigation efforts would be if each one started/finished from the same point and rounded the same reference "marks". Otherwise who is to say which current helped a Nth hemisphere competitor or other natural assist/hurdle which will be different from one attempt to another?
I totally concur with your closing sentiments "Women, young people, Ausies and all sailors can be proud of her efforts."
 
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