<p>The irony in the race for the “record” is that there IS no longer any kind of official record for what she was doing. The only internationally recognized sailing record organization, the World Speed Sailing Record Council has completely discontinued the category of “youngest” in recognition of the fact that stunts like these are not a wise thing to encourage or endorse. Jessica Watson, the person whose record she was pursuing, likewise has no official record of any kind.</p>
<p>I wish the sponsors and the media would just ignore stunts and people like this, but of course they don’t. The father admitted that he was broke and in debt as long ago as last year when Zac sailed, because of the recession affecting his business. Bottom line, I think they exploited the kids (who may have been plenty willing - but that is aside from the point) for the book and TV deals they envisioned. As others have noted - at least Balloon Boy’s parents kept him physically safe.</p>
<p>roshke, THanks for sharing that. That’s good to hear about the official record council. In addition to not watching shows that encourage this, I’m going to write a form letter I can send to sponsors telling them I’m not going to buy their products. </p>
<p>I’d like to thank Emaheevul07 for sharing their story. That is exactly what I was talking about…and now with this family it seems there is the issue of the children being under pressure to provide financially for the family as well. Not good. </p>
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<p>If we are, it’s because so many people wrongly assume that boats are fairly easy to use and very safe. You don’t have to sail for very long to amass a rather long list of incredibly stupid things people do on the water in boats, starting with alcohol related accidents. Motor boat drivers are the worst offenders but I’ve known too many sailors whose ignorance far outweighs knowledge.</p>
<p>As for water…if I could live in the water, I would! I love sailing and would never give it up. But I also respect the limitations of humans when dealing with mother nature and I am a stickler for safety on boats. The bottom line is that it’s got all the hazards of land plus drowning.</p>
<p>Remember how the father was quoted the other day after the rescue that he would not divulge the details that led to the catastrophe last week that required Abby to be rescued? I see why now. They are doing a documentary and he didn’t want to give out the punch line. Before, it didn’t make sense why that was secretive information.</p>
<p>In lotsa ways, this “mishap” brought greater attention to Abby and has worked in favor of the family’s reality TV and documentary pursuits.</p>
<p>'Right…if it was only about the passion and the adventure, no need for book and reality show TV deals." </p>
<p>Oh…oops, so much for the pure love of being on the seas…</p>
<p>…on the other hand, thinking about tv deals, books and money making schemes wears pretty thin on the open ocean for months at a time. She had to resort to her love of the sea and sailing to sustain her…</p>
<p>leanid, I, nor anyone I’ve seen post, doubts this girl has a passion for the sea and sailing.</p>
<p>I’m saying that this “adventure” was not ONLY about that true passion. If it were ONLY about her passion, then there is no need for reality shows or documentaries and you do it for the sheer love of it ONLY. The record would not matter either.</p>
<p>My D love to ski race. She loves it whether she wins or not, because of that passion. She doesn’t have to break a record, or write a book about it or be in the news for it.</p>
<p>Perhaps it would help if some poster would list the solo circumnavigation sailors who have died in the process so we can see if this is really more fatal than other activities. </p>
<p>I tried to find something on this and wasn’t successful. </p>
<p>It appears that there are several different manufacturers of solo ocean going sailboats. It seems like there would not be such a market if it was a death sentence.</p>
<p>I did see where even back in the 1800s, sailors who achieved this feat wrote a book about it. Wanting to write about an achievement means it wasn’t a true passion? Say, what?</p>
<p>I can’t imagine that if Abby was viewed as a “money magnet” by her parents that they did not use everything they could to make sure she made it back to write the book and relate the trip. Is there really some belief that they wanted something to go wrong? Where is the indication of that?</p>
<p>I also saw the story of the Dutch girl who was forbidden by the Netherlands from attempting a solo circumnavigation at age 13, who skipped out and was found having sailed to St. Maartens.</p>
<p>07Dad, I DO believe it is a TRUE passion of Abby Sunderland. NO question. I don’t have as much of an issue about writing a book. But this venture was NOT only about her passion. IN ADDITION TO (not instead of) that passion, was a plan to do a reality TV show and documentary. As well, the aim was to set a record. That is pure fact. So, it is not ONLY about the passion. If it was ONLY the passion, then she’d just do it and the record would not matter and no need for reality TV and all that jazz. Now, I am not saying that the fact that they are pursuing those things implies she doesn’t have a passion. Sure she does! But her passion is only one aspect of this venture. </p>
<p>As far as stats regarding sailors who have died on solo circumnagivations by sailboat…the issue here is about minors doing it and very few have done so (not a big enough sample to draw conclusions). And in fact, her brother stopped in ports. The Watson girl took a safer route and not during winter in the Indian Ocean.</p>
<p>And stats or no stats, it is pretty obvious that the circumstances that Abby encountered last week could have easily resulted in death as far as being thrown overboard and not able to send out distress signals or that help was two days away. These risks were very real.</p>
<p>By the way, nobody implied that her parents wanted something to go wrong. I’m sure they didn’t! But now that it did happen that way, it has brought more attention to her case and thus the reality show, book, documentary, etc. Just saying that as a factual observation.</p>
<p>Hmm, just watched Abby and her father on Youtube for the announcement of her trip. There was a strong undercurrent of commerce in his manner. Do I think his motives were less than pure? Uh, yes, I do …something about him…</p>
<p>This is from JHS’s post. As he pointed out, the trip was NOT designed to have Abby in the Indian Ocean in June. In fact, the total numbers of days Abby was to be at sea to make the same approximately 21,000 miles was much less than Watson. Abby’s boat is much faster than for Watson under her plan. Abby’s plan would have had her on the water much less than Watson and not in the Indian Ocean in June. It did not work out that way, but under both the plans and the actuality of what happened, ABBY and JESSICA came through alive!</p>
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<p>As far as I could determine, there was a recognized sailing record category up until 1999 for “youngest.” Its been going on for years and years. Abby’s brother was the youngest male for only a matter of months! Jessica Watson had already set sail BEFORE Abby did. </p>
<p>As far as I can determine, NO under-age person who has attempted solo circumnavigation, and let that fact be known, has EVER died. Apparently, the safety features of these boats and the preparation these people have taken have been successful. The rest is truly a bunch of “what ifs.”</p>
<p>The seas are not always friendly and unexpected problems happen to experienced water people all the time. This is no Disney World ride…this is real life.</p>
<p>If the Sunderlands continue to get negative press and since the voyage wasn’t completed, I wonder if some of the sponsors will sue to get their money back.</p>
<p>As sax’s stats indicate, even counting **all **incidents where the US coast guard is involved (not just situations where specific boat designs and sailor training are involved), there are a TOTAL of 795 fatalities for 2007. Just about the number of annual bicycle fatalities according to the CDC.</p>
<p>If the coast guard was notified before the life was lost, the total fatalities thereafter for 2007 drops to 303. So, domestically once a request for help is made, the fatality rate drops by over half. I wish the stats addressed the circumstances of the incident. I speculate that alcohol was involved in some of the deaths.</p>
<p>One of Abby’s sponsor’s website indicated that there had been around 250 solo circumnavigations. That is a big enough sample from which to draw some conclusions. Where are all the deaths?</p>
<p>I think we should consider the failed attempts at circumnavigation by soloists that required rescue, not just deaths. What would have been Abby’s fate if she had not been found? She would have drifted. Would she have drifted into an area where she would have been seen? How long could she last? (she had food and water to get her through a couple of weeks, right?)</p>
<p>As I read it, completions. BTW–thanks for the stats. </p>
<p>I went to the Coast Guard website and got the stats for 2008. Of approximately 700 fatalities only 40 were on the ocean and/or the Gulf. Less than 10% of the fatalities involved boaters who had had safety courses. Alcohol use was a significant factor in the fatalities. The number of fatalities increased the shorter the boat’s length. </p>
<p>As far as these stats indicate, Abby was in a “low risk” status.</p>
<p>But those fatalities and rescues were not all for solo sailors or for those who were 2000 miles from land/help or in stormy seas in the Indian Ocean, or all minors. </p>
<p>The risk factors go up when you are 2000 miles from land and alone and in winter storms in the Indian Ocean. Lives are more easily saved if rescue crews reach you within an hour or two. As well, when not alone, the risks are less. (example…you fall overboard when the big wave crashes and another throws you a life saver…in fact that happened to the fishing captain who was trying to rescue Abby!)</p>
<p>There is no way you could convince me that Abby’s situation was lower risk than a bunch of guys sailing 25 miles from land in the Atlantic Ocean.</p>