|
Sail-World.com : Californian 16-year-old departs for solo circumnavigation
Californian 16-year-old departs for solo circumnavigation
|
|
|
'Abby farewell'
Lisa Gizara ©2009 Gizaraarts.Com
|
She's off!
Abby Sunderland, younger sister of Zac, who last year became the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the world, is setting off to emulate and eclipse her brother's feat.
Departing California's premier yachting facility Marina del Ray yesterday, Abby was farewelled by hundreds of well wishers, and escorted out of calm waters by yachts from the Del Ray Yacht Club.
Her brother didn't keep his unofficial record for long. British teen sailor Michael Perham, already in the news as the youngest sailor to cross the Atlantic solo, had set off after Zac in a much faster boat, and he was about three months younger. Mike took the record from Zac just a couple months after Zac had finished.
But then along came Abby, who, at sixteen, cannot legally drive a car, but is setting off for a five month journey by herself, much of which will be through potentially the worst conditions on earth, the Southern Ocean.
Abby doesn't hide the fact that she was inspired by her brother's feat. 'Every little kid wants to be a doctor or a princess or a firefighter,' Sunderland told reporters just before she left, while trying to explain the motivation behind her controversial excursion. 'But watching my own brother go out and actually do it; it really made me realize that you can do things like this.'
 | Wild Eyes, a fast boat for a courageous sailor - Liz Gizara |
Abby's father, Laurence Sunderland, obviously attempting to deflect the widely expressed suspicion that parents whose children attempt such challenges are spurred on by their ambitious parents, told reporters that during the last three years he had tried to dissuade his daughter from such a venture by taking her sailing in nasty weather and bad sea conditions, but she only became more determined.
...and to make it more 'interesting', she has someone to beat. Australia's slightly older 16-year-old Jessica Watson is already out there, half way through her own circumnavigation, having already passed Cape Horn and now heading for the southern tip of Africa. Jessica rounded the Horn in good conditions (for the Horn) but has since had three knock-downs in 70 knot winds.
 | Abby hugging her mother just before departure - Lisa Gizara ©2009 Gizaraarts.Com |
Abby's mother, Marianne, also supports her daughter's voyage. She told reporters before the departure, 'At first I wasn't as supportive as I was with Zac -- with him I never had a doubt. However with the new Abby I've seen over the last months, I have seen an incredibly tough and determined young woman take the place of the sweet girl she had always been. Now I am really excited for her because it is true that this has been something she's been talking about for years.'
Abby and her team are slightly worried, however, about the timing of her journey. While, on her present schedule, she will round the Horn in the height of summer when conditions should be the best they can be, her delayed departure - delayed because of necessary boat preparation - means that by the time she sails south of Australia, the weather will be approaching Autumn, and the weather will be deteriorating.
Sail-World, along with thousands of sailors around the world, wishes her fair sailing. However, as I write these words, my heart is anxious for Abby. Her Open 40 yacht is a racing boat rather than a cruising boat, and for this reason offers her the best chance of getting round the world before the worst of the winter in the Southern Ocean. However, it is also more complex and more difficult to handle - in the conditions she is likely to face - than the sturdy and slow Sparksman and Stephens 34 that Jessica is sailing.
by Nancy Knudsen
Click on the FB Like link to post this story to your FB wall
http://www.sail-world.com/index.cfm?nid=65751
4:50 AM Sun 24 Jan 2010 GMT
Click here for printer friendly version
Click here to send us feedback or comments about this story.
|
|
|
Our Advertisers are committed to our sport, please support them!
This site and its contents are © Copyright TetraMedia Pty. Ltd and/or the original author, photographer etc. All Rights Reserved.
Photographs are copyright by law. If you wish to use or buy a photograph you must contact the photographer directly (there is a hyperlink in most cases to their website, or do a Google search.) with your request.
Please do not contact Sail-World.com as we cannot give permission for use of other photographer’s images.
Only if the photographer named on the image is Sail-world.com, Powerboat-world.com or Marinebusiness-world.com
Contact us
.
Ph: +61 2 4977 2116 fax: +61 2 4977 2528
or complete our
feedback form
Contact us
.
View our Privacy Policy.
[ Go Home]
[ Banner Advertising Specification]
[Bot Archive ]
Customised news feeds -Marine Industry companies, Clubs and Associations have their own customised version of our Sail-World news feed on their website.
Look_here_to_see_examples
|
| | |
