[tongue-tied]

No you are right, the government does not know what is best for kids. But parents should.

Retired Navy here, carrier guy. When we were in the ocean, with a carrier battle group (they called them that back then) we had picket ships with radar scanning everything around us. Weather and threats included. When we launched planes, we'd have greater coverage to make sure we were clear for some serious ocean coverage. When one of the planes spotted a weather system coming in, depending on how severe, we would steer clear as a battle group, or tell the picket ships (destroyers, small boys) to clear out: head south for 100 miles, turn west, we'll meet up in a day or two at these coordinates.

This 16 year old, with a sailing ship radar and satellite comms, didn't have that. Parents should have said, er, not in this season, you must wait.

Earlier thread mentioned she went - against other's advice - to sail during the stormy season. My guess is she wanted to break a record or tie it, before her next birthday when she'd be too old to do so. Bottom line, her parents should have said no. Instead, they said yes, and she is in peril or maybe already dead.

Sorry, not the nanny state's fault in this case, but parents letting her "pursue her dreams". Idiots, in my view.

/soapbox off

[traderrob6]

I agree with you. Parents are and should be the authority but when they act recklessly and irresponsibly, there should be consequences.

Why did she have to sail at 16 rather than 18 or 19? The answer is to set a record. How important was that to the parents I wonder. If she set this record then the next shot would be at 15 or 10 or 8!

I put people like this in the same boat (pardon pun) as the lil teen miss pageant parents. Most often it for their own personal aggrandizement. The child is simply a means to that end.