Posted on 06/10/2010 7:58:31 PM PDT by jimbo123
The man who built Jessica Watson's yacht says missing solo teenage sailor Abby Sunderland's boat is not designed for a solo trip around the world.
A multi-national search and rescue operation has been launched after emergency beacons onboard 16-year-old Sunderland's boat were triggered when the young American adventurer ran into huge waves hundreds of kilometres from land in the Indian Ocean early this morning.
A Qantas Airbus is heading to the search zone, which is about 3,600 kilometres from the WA coast between Australia and Africa.
Veteran yachtsman Marty Still built Jessica Watson's yacht and sailed it for 17 years, notching up 30,000 nautical miles in that time.
He says Sunderland is sailing a type of boat known as an Open-40, which is made of carbon fibre and is designed to sail at its quickest downwind.
Mr Still says the boat is built for speed and it is difficult for it to be sailed by only one person.
"They're not really designed for general purpose sailing. I think there is a compromise for safety when they are sailed single-handed," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
Additional Australian sailing perspective from David Dicks:
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/i-would-have-been-scared-shitless-dicks-20100611-y1wr.html
Prayers for Abby
Clean Up Australia founder Ian Kiernan is also an experienced sailor and held the Australian record for solo circumnavigation of the world.
He says Abby Sunderland’s trip was badly planned.
“I don’t know what she’s doing in the Southern Ocean as a 16-year-old in the middle of winter, it’s just, it’s foolhardy,” he said.
“And the fact that her EPIRB went off attached to her life raft - I thought perhaps the raft had washed overboard and that may still be the case, but two EPIRB going off, it’s a bit sinister to me.”
My prayers go out for her and her family.
Speaking of- what the hell were they thinking?
“Fears Grow” = media hype.
She is either dead or alive and I suspect will be found in either condition.
The Southern Ocean has some huge waves. I’ve sailed all my life, and when I was younger I read a lot of single handed sailing stories and thought about doing this myself.
But when I got older, I decided that it wasn’t REALLY what I wanted to do. I’ve had enough hairy adventures at sea as it is.
I hope she’s OK.
Quanta Airbus with 11 observers should be in the area in 2 hours.
I guess a desperate need for attention overrode common sense.
I’m still looking for Emelia Earhart! sarc/
Who’s fears, when you stick your head in a lions mouth you can expect he may nip it off.
Drunk?
I agree, I don't know what her parents were thinking. My daughter is on a substantial Coast Guard cutter, with a nice big seaman next to her (she's a little bitty Seaman) to grab her before she's washed overboard.
Solo sailing for youngsters is like solo flying: what's the point, the benefit to humanity, really?
I know I sound insensitive, but shouldn’t there be some kind of personal responsibility on the part of adventure seekers? They tempt fate by doing ridiculously dangerous things, and then, when they suddenly disappear off the radar, we the taxpayers are supposed to pony up the money to look for them, and get all upset about their possible demise. Rescue workers are put in harm’s way because of some reckless teenager’s search for personal fulfillment. People who do this sort of thing should be made to understand that, if they get lost or injured while engaging in a totally unnecessary and unwise activity, they’re on their own.
I have a feeling she’s no longer breathing air. It’s tragic, but her stupid parents should be called into question. At least a softball interview by Matt (Iluvobama) Lauer.
I know. I've avoided saying it because I don't want a bunch of outraged freepers yelling at me, but dang... I don't even like letting my cats out into the fenced-in backyard. So I can't imagine letting a child set sail alone.
I have to agree.
Yeah, how did that go?
" Mom, Dad, I want to sail solo around the world in a boat that is not designed for that endeavor."
" Sure dear, whatever you want."
The more I read about the build-up to this trip, the more I can see that the sponsorship dollars played a major role in the decision for her to attempt this in the winter. If she had waited, she wouldn’t have gotten sponsorship dollars.
Here are some of the highlights from that January 29, 2010 interview:
momlogic: How is Abby doing?
Marianne Sunderland: She’s got a steep learning curve. We’ve had a couple of technical problems we’re having to troubleshoot with the electricians. Here this 16-year-old is, working with 50-something-year-old electrical engineers, telling her how to pull wires, etc.! She’s got an incredible support team. They are good with her. They know she is tired, they know she is young and they keep encouraging her.
ml: As a mom, how do you keep yourself from growing sick with worry?
MS: Sometimes I wake up during the night and I think about what could happen and think of her out there alone on the ocean. I start to get nervous. But I believe that God controls the wind and the waves and whatever comes to her.
I hated watching Zac [Abby’s brother, who successfully completed his own solo circumnavigation] be uncomfortable and go through struggles, but he learned from those and was able to use the skills he gained later when he really hit bad weather or any sort of trouble.
I keep telling Abby she’s encountering any glitches or problems for a reason, and it prepares her for the next thing. I said, “When weather is rough, or you’ve got an autopilot glitch later on, you are going to know this boat like the back of your hand.”
Like i said weeks ago. I worry when my 16 year old takes the car across town.
Probably about right, with the added dimension of how much fame, notoriety, and money this would mean to all involved. The parents may as well have pimped the girl out, the difference being the means by which they put a child’s safety in jeopardy in return for money.
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