Australia joins search for teenage solo sailor

There should have simply been a “shadow” yacht. There is a quadriplegic guy sailing around the world or is it just the Atlantic? He has a nurse accompanying him, she is not deemed to be on board for the purposes of his record breaking attempt.

If she were properly trained and equipped…and had the maturity to handle the trip solo, yes.
Likewise, I’d let her solo an aircraft at 16 as is legal here.

Going solo in an aeroplane is many, many times safer that sailing round the world single-handed. No comparison I am afraid!

I understand what you are saying, but the bottom line is would you allow your daughter at 16 to sail solo around the world?

If she were properly trained and equipped…and had the maturity to handle the trip solo, yes.
Likewise, I’d let her solo an aircraft at 16 as is legal here.

I’m afraid, yes. :).

A 16 year-old can be killed just as dead (to coin a phrase) by doing something that looks to most as a safer activity. Sadly, I can guarentee that this summer a 16 year old will die in UK from horseback riding, drowning or a motor vehicle accident.

Risk is a realtive thing. Is a well-trained sailor (albeit a young well-trained sailor) at much more risk than a less experienced adult sailing closer it Britain?
My money would be on this girl, in a properly equipped vessel with all the rescue gear necessary in the Indian ocean as opposed to a less experienced 16 year old in a dinghy off Lands End, the Channel or a loch in Scotland.

I believe a 16 year old can quit school in the UK…and make many other “adult” choices and activities (how’s that for a euphemism? :D) so I’m not sure how sailing or horseback riding, riding a motorbike, racing carts or flying a glider is any different.
I’m sure most parents aren’t going to send a child on a trip like this unless they’re sure of her safety to handle problems…which this girl seems to have done.

And unlike “pressuring” a child into acting or singing, (which would likely have more long term psychological harm) I don’t think there is a lot of money to be earned by sailing around the world. If it weren’t for this emergency, very few people would have known she was doing it. Hardly the stuff of a lucrative book or film deal. More like a few chat shows or a cover of a yachting magazine.
Imagine the good an adventure like this will do for a young person’s self confidence…
Sure there’s a risk, but to re-use a chiche, there’s a risk in doing anything and nothing.
There’s no guarantee that she…or any of us…won’t be diagnosed with cancer next week.

There is a time for governments to be the big nanny…
I’m really not sure this is one of them considering the age and training of the girl.

I understand what you are saying, but the bottom line is would you allow your daughter at 16 to sail solo around the world?

Agreed:)

That is really dumbing this issue down I’m afraid.
Am I that old fashioned that I’m the only one that sees this as wrong?:o

I’m afraid, yes. :).

A 16 year-old can be killed just as dead (to coin a phrase) by doing something that looks to most as a safer activity. Sadly, I can guarentee that this summer a 16 year old will die in UK from horseback riding, drowning or a motor vehicle accident.

Risk is a realtive thing. Is a well-trained sailor (albeit a young well-trained sailor) at much more risk than a less experienced adult sailing closer it Britain?
My money would be on this girl, in a properly equipped vessel with all the rescue gear necessary in the Indian ocean as opposed to a less experienced 16 year old in a dinghy off Lands End, the Channel or a loch in Scotland.

I believe a 16 year old can quit school in the UK…and make many other “adult” choices and activities (how’s that for a euphemism? :D) so I’m not sure how sailing or horseback riding, riding a motorbike, racing carts or flying a glider is any different.
I’m sure most parents aren’t going to send a child on a trip like this unless they’re sure of her safety to handle problems…which this girl seems to have done.

And unlike “pressuring” a child into acting or singing, (which would likely have more long term psychological harm) I don’t think there is a lot of money to be earned by sailing around the world. If it weren’t for this emergency, very few people would have known she was doing it. Hardly the stuff of a lucrative book or film deal. More like a few chat shows or a cover of a yachting magazine.
Imagine the good an adventure like this will do for a young person’s self confidence…
Sure there’s a risk, but to re-use a chiche, there’s a risk in doing anything and nothing.
There’s no guarantee that she…or any of us…won’t be diagnosed with cancer next week.

There is a time for governments to be the big nanny…
I’m really not sure this is one of them considering the age and training of the girl.

That is really dumbing this issue down I’m afraid.
I’m really against all this awful PC and health & safety pressure and control on children, schools, parents, outside adventure pursuits centres, even air cadet flying (there are some awful directives trying to be pushed through with that) but sending a 16 year old off by herself across the worlds oceans is not the same thing as what you talk of, not even close actually.
Am I that old fashioned that I’m the only one that sees this as wrong?:o

You are not wrong! But she is clearly like her Bro Zac likes the challenge 🙂 Hey, she would of cuffed up at an early point if parent power was inflicted. 😉

The same goes for just about any activity a child learns from parents:
Acting, climbing, athletics, scholarly studies, car/cart/bike/cycle racing…

Probably even plastic modeling and being an air enthusiast.😮

I know an aviation family where the sons soled at 16. By 22 they had advanced ratings and hundreds of hours in warbirds and taildragging antiques…not to mention thefamily Cessna 185 and Super Cub.
Would you say they were “pressured” into dangerous interest?

Still by 16, if the girl did not want to sail the world solo, I doubt if they could have made her.
From what I hear, recalcitrant teenagers can be a handful. 😮
And remember the Dutch authorities recently prevented a teenager from doing the same thing.
So you got to ask…when does “bubble wrapping” by parents (or the state) become a hindrance rather than a help?

It would be a sad place if children didn’t pick up interests from their parents…

Well said Sir! and Health and Safety in the UK x WORLD has gone XXXXXXX Mad .:)

That is really dumbing this issue down I’m afraid.
I’m really against all this awful PC and health & safety pressure and control on children, schools, parents, outside adventure pursuits centres, even air cadet flying (there are some awful directives trying to be pushed through with that) but sending a 16 year old off by herself across the worlds oceans is not the same thing as what you talk of, not even close actually.
Am I that old fashioned that I’m the only one that sees this as wrong?:o

The same goes for just about any activity a child learns from parents:
Acting, climbing, athletics, scholarly studies, car/cart/bike/cycle racing…

Probably even plastic modeling and being an air enthusiast.😮

I know an aviation family where the sons soled at 16. By 22 they had advanced ratings and hundreds of hours in warbirds and taildragging antiques…not to mention thefamily Cessna 185 and Super Cub.
Would you say they were “pressured” into dangerous interest?

Still by 16, if the girl did not want to sail the world solo, I doubt if they could have made her.
From what I hear, recalcitrant teenagers can be a handful. 😮
And remember the Dutch authorities recently prevented a teenager from doing the same thing.
So you got to ask…when does “bubble wrapping” by parents (or the state) become a hindrance rather than a help?

It would be a sad place if children didn’t pick up interests from their parents…

Well said Sir! and Health and Safety in the UK x WORLD has gone XXXXXXX Mad .:)

IOne wonders how much pressure/encouragement may have exerted by the parents?

The same goes for just about any activity a child learns from parents:
Acting, climbing, athletics, scholarly studies, car/cart/bike/cycle racing…

Probably even plastic modeling and being an air enthusiast.😮

I know an aviation family where the sons soled at 16. By 22 they had advanced ratings and hundreds of hours in warbirds and taildragging antiques…not to mention thefamily Cessna 185 and Super Cub.
Would you say they were “pressured” into dangerous interest?

Still by 16, if the girl did not want to sail the world solo, I doubt if they could have made her.
From what I hear, recalcitrant teenagers can be a handful. 😮
And remember the Dutch authorities recently prevented a teenager from doing the same thing.
So you got to ask…when does “bubble wrapping” by parents (or the state) become a hindrance rather than a help?

It would be a sad place if children didn’t pick up interests from their parents…

I agree kev, there could be pressure from the parents but it is also an oppertunity that few others will ever get.

Slight thread drift – Hull and Humber Clipper won this stage of the race, well done to them.

Next year she could be carrying an SA80.

I regularly carried a .303 at the age of 14 but it doesn’t mean I’d have been any use if expected to use a weapon in anger at that age.

One wonders how much pressure/encouragement may have exerted by the parents?

Regards,

kev35

They should all be expected if you are sailing around the world and thus not beyond expectation even if beyond control, being a 16 year old girl dosen’t help your chances against any of them.
Pirates are a very real threat as we know, bit unsure if cute Whales and Swordfish would do anything to her though:)

Are you sure about the 16 year olds being able to drive in some States of America, I can’t find anything on that?:confused:

Yes I am sure. 🙂 I would like to see her try the three Capes in a small boat, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn :):diablo:

Next year she could be carrying an SA80.

What would you have said if a freak occurrence had got her yacht ? Like a Swordfish attack or Whale attack or even Pirates, all things beyond her control. :p

They should all be expected if you are sailing around the world and thus not beyond expectation even if beyond control, being a 16 year old girl dosen’t help your chances against any of them.
Pirates are a very real threat as we know, bit unsure if cute Whales and Swordfish would do anything to her though:)

Are you sure about the 16 year olds being able to drive in some States of America, I can’t find anything on that?:confused:

Benyboy, that is a completey simplistic argument to use in this case. The RNLI save kids that are washed out on lilos etc, and crews of ships and so on. There is enough RNLI and Coastguard service in my family tree to know the fundamental differences in these two very different scenerios.

Sending a 16 year old out on a round the world yacht expedition and then having a huge rescue mission sent out to her is not ‘rising to a challange’, it is taking the p***
Did the parents honsetly think that she would not meet weather conditions that could be beyond the capability of a kid, a 16 year old simply does not have the resources and strength of an experienced adult (and history has shown that some of those have been caught out badly).
Yes extreme challanges must be met, and we know the rescue services are there and will always do their best, but experience, personnal and physical strength must all be capable before considering embarking on these things.

Well that is your view. 🙂 She was just unlucky to hit the Indian Ocean to early. What would you have said if a freak occurrence had got her yacht ? Like a Swordfish attack or Whale attack or even Pirates, all things beyond her control. :p

Precisely but they have absolutely nothing to do with the topic being discussed and just confuses the main issue here.
We are all proud of our national rescue services (I hope) and rightly so, I actually think it is criminal that they don’t receive government funding – especially when you see what does.

I’m with BSG, the parents should pay towards this stunt, can it be considered a leisure activity, more like an accident waiting to happen.
I think I’m must getting hard-line as I also think that anyone that causes an accident on the road and it is proved to be their fault should be charged for the resultant damage and rescue etc.

All I am saying is the three services I have mentioned are not payed for from taxes. We are not expected to pay in the event that we need them. Many of the accidents they attend are leisure activities.

Yeah, but in many States in America you can drive a car at 16 , so should a 16 year old be able to drive alone ? :p:)

I’d let a 16 year old drive me home I think, I’d be ******* if I’d let a 16 year old sail me around the southern oceans, or even the solent 😮 for that matter Anna. No problems with “spirit” and trying new things etc etc, and yes we bubble wrap our children these days (you should hear the flack I got for giving my 10 year old a swiss army knife to take camping :(!) but there are limits. I see bennyboys argument but as Pagen says, its a tad simplistic.

Does this mean if you ever need an Air Ambulance, RNLI or Mountain Rescue rescue you will turn it down ? or will you pay for those services after ?
I am sure I will need at least one of them one day so give to them when ever I can.
Flygirl is right, we have to find new challenges, if not we do not live, we just exist.

Benyboy, that is a completey simplistic argument to use in this case. The RNLI save kids that are washed out on lilos etc, and crews of ships and so on. There is enough RNLI and Coastguard service in my family tree to know the fundamental differences in these two very different scenerios.

Sending a 16 year old out on a round the world yacht expedition and then having a huge rescue mission sent out to her is not ‘rising to a challange’, it is taking the p***
Did the parents honsetly think that she would not meet weather conditions that could be beyond the capability of a kid, a 16 year old simply does not have the resources and strength of an experienced adult (and history has shown that some of those have been caught out badly).
Yes extreme challanges must be met, and we know the rescue services are there and will always do their best, but experience, personnal and physical strength must all be capable before considering embarking on these things.