“I hardly think that refusing to allow a teen to solo sail around the world is equivalent to neutering.”
I do, If they have the capability to do it. We’ve hit six deer in the six miles of gravel road between our house and the little town we live by in the last year alone. In theory any one of those six would have been fatal, especially on a gravel road. So there’s risk, should we bottle up our teens? Or let them drive? I’d guess this girl could have survived a while after the mast was removed. So you wait it out, just like getting caught in a zero visabilty blizzard, at night, when the outside temp is -XX°F. Life is always at risk while you are alive - it’s only when you’re dead that there are no more risks.
“So there’s risk, should we bottle up our teens? Or let them drive? ‘
Everything is a calculated risk. What about your kids and the deer? I don’t know. Maybe say they can’t drive at times when deer are active, or require a very slow speed, assuming you believe they are trustworthy about it.
It’s your call. They are your kids. But I don’t have to think you necessarily made the right call, depending on what you decide!