Solo 16-year-old sailor hits merchant ship

[LONG_KEELER]

I've read this thread with interest. Press information is always unreliable and therefore as webcraft correctly (if somewhat impolitely) states we should avoid jumping to conclusions.

However, the part I don't understand is that she was seemingly able to spend time attempting to contact the ship, and then descending into the boat to her bunk to brace herself for the impact. As she wasn't competing under any rules at he time ( "At the time, she was conducting sea trials" ) I am struggling to understand why she didn't just turn the boat around to avoid the collision and then worry about colregs afterward.

I hope that the enquiries (three apparently) return their findings as quickly as possible so as to prevent too much speculation detracting from her endeavours.

Quite seperately from this particular incident, I do find the recent trend of encouraging Young People to compete in endeavours to youngest person to ... somewhat disconcerting. I am all for young people taking on challenges (I am a D of E exepedition organizer/assesor), even hazardous challenges on their own basis but the quest to "be the youngest" inevitably places calendar deadlines on things which may result in ill prepared events taking place.

Nice post. I find the ROR sailing for the very young disturbing. I do wonder if it is sometimes a lack of OKness which drives them. A need to feel good about themselves instead of a genuine challenge . How to tell the difference seems to be the problem.

As parents I don't think we can afford to take that chance .

 

[webcraft]

Good luck Jessica

It's still not exactly clear what happened - some reports seem to indicate that Jessica may have made the mistake of assuming the ship had seem her and was making a course alteration. I am sure however that whatever happened wil have served as a salutary lesson and can only increase her chance of a successful circumnavigation.

I certainly wish her luck and hope she is successful. You can see an interview with Jessica, her mum and her team here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-0Zi2k8qKU

Here's Jessica's own blog commenting on the incident and aftermath:

I think it's fair to say that there aren't many people left that haven't heard about the incident on Tuesday night. Basically, Ella’s Pink Lady was hit by a 225 meter long bulk carrier just before 2:00am causing damage to the hull, breaking the mast in two and destroying the rigging. Ella’s Pink Lady was running navigation lights and collision avoidance equipment, but I can't go into further details as we currently have three different departments investigating the collision.

The big thing is that I’m safe and well and that although Ella’s Pink Lady has suffered some pretty bad damage, it’s all repairable.

I won’t play it down. It was a pretty scary and dangerous incident. The sound of Ella’s Pink Lady being scraped along the hull of a 63,000 tonne ship isn’t something that I’m likely to ever forget. But at the same time I’m proud of the way the whole team handled the situation. From my first call back to base everything was under control, and looking back it was amazing to see years of planning for such an emergency click into place.

Up to this point I had only ever been able to read about and discuss what to do in such a situation. So in many ways it was really comforting to know that I was able to keep a completely cool head and instinctively know what needed to be done.

After we separated, there was quite a bit of work clearing the deck, which looked a lot like war zone, before starting up the engine and motoring into the nearest port, Southport.

Has it put me off? Well no, I’m as determined as ever, and to be honest if an incident like this had put me off I can’t have been very serious about it to begin with. More than anything it taught us all an amazing amount about how tight the team is and just how prepared I am.

The media and public interest over the collision has been overwhelming. When the news got out (very quickly) I had choppers following me all day, a fleet of boats to escort me in and hundreds of people standing on the break waters. Thank you to everyone who came out to support me.

Although I did not require assistance, the Rescue Coordination Centre (in Canberra) was very supportive and the Gold Coast Water Police did an amazing job of helping me through the mayhem of media and spectator boats to the marina.

Now, it’s all about looking forward. Things are already underway to get Ella’s Pink Lady restored to her original beauty. The support we’ve had here on the Gold Coast and everywhere has been overwhelming, but more on that soon.

It seems that this has only set us back a couple of weeks. We will know for sure over the weekend. Stay tuned.

You can find information from the press conference on the news section of my website www.jessicawatson.com.au

Thanks again to everyone for their interest and support.

- W

 

[puddock]

Best of luck to her.
Personally, I find the thought of sending someone of that age to sea and expecting them to run a boat, a little irresponsible.
I get worried when mine try to run a bath, never mind a boat !

 

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Hi Nigel,
I looked at the video that you provided the link to. It seems her mother considered that as far as safety was concerned, "no stone has been left unturned" ;-)

 

[Ubergeekian]

Quite seperately from this particular incident, I do find the recent trend of encouraging Young People to compete in endeavours to youngest person to ... somewhat disconcerting. I am all for young people taking on challenges (I am a D of E exepedition organizer/assesor), even hazardous challenges on their own basis but the quest to "be the youngest" inevitably places calendar deadlines on things which may result in ill prepared events taking place.

I get the impression that some parents would rather their child was the youngest to die trying to <whatever> than the second youngest to do it without dying.

 

[puddock]

I get the impression that some parents would rather their child was the youngest to die trying to <whatever> than the second youngest to do it without dying.

Totally agree. You must wonder sometimes, who the actual driving force REALLY is.

 

[Wandering Star]

It's still not exactly clear what happened - some reports seem to indicate that Jessica may have made the mistake of assuming the ship had seem her and was making a course alteration. I am sure however that whatever happened wil have served as a salutary lesson and can only increase her chance of a successful circumnavigation.

- W

As far as I'm aware the official reports haven't been published so any speculation is just that - speculative. since you've reached the same speculative conclusion as most of us reached several days ago for which you labelled us self righteous gits, does this make you a self righteous git too - but just a bit slower on the uptake than most of us?

Cheers, Brian.

 

[webcraft]

Eh?

As far as I'm aware the official reports haven't been published so any speculation is just that - speculative. since you've reached the same speculative conclusion as most of us reached several days ago for which you labelled us self righteous gits, does this make you a self righteous git too - but just a bit slower on the uptake than most of us?

Sorry, I must be VERY slow on the uptake Brian. I called you a bunch of self-righteous gits because you all jumped on the poor girl with comments like:

"don't worry ...daddy will put it alright and I'll be on my little 'blonde' way again......"

it is hard to find a reasonable interpretation of her story that does not put her firmly in the wrong.

her attitude to the accident suggests that a more mature approach to her responsibilities may be needed before she takes on things like this

On the basis of this snippet, therefore, I think she should give up solo sailing until she learns sensible behaviour

I think if she had done 'Day Skipper' on the Solent she would have been better prepared! The 4 hours of night sailing would have taught her to avoid big ships.

I agree with your indifference to her 'exploits'. They really don't progress the human condition.

I can well imagine her "Media Manager" is going to milk this cow for everything he can get ...

To me these statements smack of self-righteousness and generally show the posters in a mean-spirited light. I don't believe I have done any speculating or reached any of these 'conclusions', or that any part of my comments on the incident itself could be labelled 'self-righteous'. I am therefore somewhat baffled by your interpretation of the part of my post you have quoted.

However, if it makes you feel better to think of me as a self-righteous git then please go right ahead. After all, my denunciation of your self-righteousness does sound a bit self-righteous, and lots of people on here will agree that I am a git.


- W

 

[Wandering Star]

To me these statements smack of self-righteousness and generally show the posters in a mean-spirited light. I don't believe I have done any speculating or reached any of these 'conclusions', or that any part of my comments on the incident itself could be labelled 'self-righteous'. I am therefore somewhat baffled by your interpretation of the part of my post you have quoted.

However, if it makes you feel better to think of me as a self-righteous git then please go right ahead. After all, my denunciation of your self-righteousness does sound a bit self-righteous, and lots of people on here will agree that I am a git.

- W

Apart from the first quote about "Daddys Girl" I don't think a single one of your quotes shows mean spiritedness on the part of forumites. I think it just shows most forumites are concerned about the welfare of an increasing number of 16 years old's (and younger) who see the glamour of record breaking but who don't see the risks involved - basically they can die. The way I read Jessicas accounts, she is almost totally reliant on her shore backup for advice but she doesn't have (well, she probably does now) the experience to avoid hitting a f*cking great ship which she claims to have seen. Either she was telling porkies or she was too inexperienced to take avoiding action.

There is now a 13 year old planning on beating the RTW record - FGS what are the parents thinking of? If this makes me sound self righteous then so be it, I like to think it makes me sound sensible. All my 3 boys and my grandson sail, all 3 of my boys have made transats with me at one time or another but I wouldn't promote the idea of them sailing around the World solo purely for the Kudos of breaking records for youngest sailor - I thinks that a nonsense, children of 16 are not experienced or mature enough and Jessica proves that point (if you allow speculation to creep in about what happened).

Would you really prefer and maybe you do, that we support these record breaking attempts and should show enthusiasm each time the record falls instead of saying what we think?

Going back to the "Daddies Girl" comments, this is the Lounge where people can make comments and pass opinions. In any case whoever it was that said it, is only expressing a view I also hold having read all the stuff including Jessicas own account. But it's irrelevant to the main discussion - just an opinion of a poster who is perfectly entitled to post his opinions.

Cheers, Brian.

 

[jellyellie]

...Going back to the "Daddies Girl" comments, this is the Lounge where people can make comments and pass opinions...

It's YM's Scuttlebutt, not the Lounge, but no less a place to make commments and pass opinions.

FWIW I'm with webcraft here.

 

[webcraft]

Earth to Brian

Going back to the "Daddies Girl" comments, this is the Lounge where people can make comments and pass opinions.

Actually this is Scuttlebutt, as JellyEllie has pointed out. All threads here are in the public domain and googleable.

Jelly, good to see that you are still monitoring this place even though you rarely post. We must seem like a sad bunch of aging misanthropes

- W

 

[Refueler]

Quote:
I can well imagine her "Media Manager" is going to milk this cow for everything he can get ...

That comment was made by me after seeing the photo of her Media Manager with smug grin on his face ... mobile phone in use and shoving the poor girl along the press ...

Do you say that Media manager would NOT make most out if this ? He wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't ... doesn't make it right though in my view.

 

[HinewaisMan]

I think we're all missing something here.

If you look at the pics of her bringing her boat back in after the collision, look at how the broken mast, sail and boom have been stabilised. This being done by a single hander on their first night out (sex and age irrelevant), probably pretty bloody shaken up, in the dark.

I'm sure the media and wowsers will have a ball with her - it wasn't the most clever thing to do to hit a very big ship - but me, I think there but for the grace of God goes me, and am seriously impressed at the seamanship she's shown getting back safely.

 

[snooks]

I think we're all missing something here.

Yep, I think she'd like to thank her sponsors....

Talk about a tough little boat. As we’ve been going over Ella's Pink Lady we’ve been discovering all sorts of unexpected things that did survive like the Hella navigation lights that worked perfectly despite a direct hit! I’ve also been thinking about how nice it was to be able to turn on my trusty Yanmar engine to get us home and to be able to use my Wichard knife to cutt away tangled lines.

from http://www.youngestround.blogspot.com/

 

[HinewaisMan]

Yep, I think she'd like to thank her sponsors....

Yeah? So ever tried to get sponsors for something like this? Refer my comment about wowsers.

Bugger - I'm 52 - it took me that long to get the balls to try my trip. All I'm saying is rather than knock her, we as sailors, should actually be offering her our support.

 

[tokenjam]

I have been taught that it is my responsibility to miss everybody else whatever the col regs indicate in my favour.

That was one of the things that attracted me to sailing (I hope it doesn't come back to haunt me) that individual responsibility was the key.

I wonder how long it will be before 'Lawers for Loosers' will be prevalent on the seas

 

[Refueler]

Yep, I think she'd like to thank her sponsors....



from http://www.youngestround.blogspot.com/

mmmmm yes I read all that on blog / website and thought ... I'm not going to be so cynical or critical ! But I can imagine Media manager having a 'wee chat' to her before the quotes !

As to getting boat shipshape after the incident .... hang on a mo ... yes it's good that she did it - but weather was reported as reasonably calm and good ... so she wouldn't have been fighting rough seas ...
The mast hasn't broken at such point to put it well overboard ... boom etc. would have been as is ...

C'mon - I agree again that she's tidied up well and got boat back ... but it's not exactly a full-scale knock down full dismasting ... etc. Dramatic yes ...

Final point - why should I support her effort, just because I boat ? I personally consider a young girl as that should be at school, sorting out her life and future - not doing this. OK if she's successful - she'll probably make a mint out of book rights, sponsorship to do other boating things ... maybe become a girl skipper of some race boat ...
Still I think she's doing wrong thing - but that's MY personal opinion.

 

[toad_oftoadhall]

Does anyone suggesting she's being forced into this by someone else have any evidence whatsoever? If so why on earth aren't you going to the authorities? If not, stop making snide and baseless accusations.

She's collided with a ship. So what? So did Sir Alec Rose. Single handed sailors don't keep a perfect lookout. Deal with it, it's a risk they choose to take. If you don’t like it don’t pick on one 16 year old girl, have a pop at all single-handed sailors.

She's 16 so she should be at school? I don't know if Aussie law requires her to be at school at 16 but if so, of all the kids who bunk off school why pick on her? There are plenty of girls younger than her who get pregnant and effectively drop out and live off the state. There are countless kids who simply don't turn up or turn up and make no effort to progress. Why is she more worthy of vitriol than her?

She creates the maximum value for her sponsors? Good luck to her!

Is she really putting herself in more danger than if she regularly rode a horse, moped or bicycle on the road - not sure but I doubt it. Even if she is, why not? It’s her choice.

If she had 2 kids and was addicted to heroin nobody would say a word, but sail round the world and she's vilified. We get the kids we deserve. They step in a boat and everyone picks them apart yet they hang around newsagents smoking dope and dissing passers-by and nobody says a word. Guess what they choose.

I wonder how many people who had a pop at Mike Perham on here and elsewhere had the guts at the SIBS to tell him to his face he shouldn’t have gone?

Jessica’s Blog: http://www.youngestround.blogspot.com/
MP’s latest challenge: http://www.bountyboat.com/

I think people should get off her back, but they won’t this kind of criticism has been about forever. Chichester put up with exactly the same criticisms and felt it acutely, as did his wife. Knox Johnston had an old guy say to him “Aren‘t you the Jonnie who say‘s he‘s going to sail round the world? Well it can‘t be done and if it could you couldn‘t do it.”

 

[HinewaisMan]

Way to go Toad

 

[Searush]

[snip]
Knox Johnston had an old guy say to him “Aren‘t you the Jonnie who say‘s he‘s going to sail round the world? Well it can‘t be done and if it could you couldn‘t do it.”

I had a comment like that when I was doing my first degree part-time - while working full time & with a young family & a house to renovate. Dammned hard graft, but never a dull moment & the criticism was a great motivator. I bloody showed 'em it could be done! I suspect she will react the same way. But I still haven't seen anything to explain how or why she couldn't avoid a ship she saw with time to radio it more than once.