I can understand your opinion but the question still comes down to "Is sailing so dangerous that a 13 year old girl should not be allowed to follow her dream?" It's not really relevent, I guess, who stops her (or if they stop her).

What you are saying is it is a very hard thing these days to completely eliminate politics from any of the hard decisions of the day. Is that right? From fees (leevied against us by governments) to register the boat, to whether our pulling the boats up the dunes ruins the environment, all the way to whether this girl needs to be stopped from following her goal. It's all got some connection to Politics does it not?

With all due respect, what i am saying is i HATE political discussions here... i respect the right to debate politics and parties and agendas, but i loath it. I have friends that all they do is bash the govt. and are conspiracy theorist.. and i find it all negative, and detrimental to the public well being.

i don't care to hear people's opinion on whether it is negative, or needed, despite the fact that it may be needed and educational... It has been overblown, is hot air, and over kill.

i come here to learn about sailing and sailing topics.. not to debate if Obama is a socialist or Bush was idiot...

I can respect that.

So here is the question..... Do you think it is dangerous to sail a small boat around the world regardless if you are 13 or 19 or 40 IF you are surrounded by a flotilla? I think I would have LOVED the challenge when I was younger but now...... not so much. Would you consider it if you didn't have all the "stuff" (family, job etc) to consider?

We can't assume that she will be in harms way, but we know for sure that her behaviour is not conductive to better survival rates if practiced by people in general. We know for sure that it is a bad precedent.

Evolutionary forces tend to eliminate from the gene pool those who tend to expose themselves to high risks at young age. This means nature will take care of things if she is allowed to sail.

I tend to believe that it makes sense to restrain her instead of expose her to evolutionary elimination of her genes/conduct (meaning herself or most of those who follow her behavior pattern). It is faster and less painful. Naturally, I will change my mind if convinced that her behaviour is conductive to better survival rates.

I do, however, agree that governments in general are poorly prepared to handle this type of situation and that their decisions are deviated by politics, with a history of failure when it comes to decisions conductive to better survival rates.

Thank you, as i respect your right to freedom of speech and opinion..


Yes... but so is driving to the store...


I was invincible as a kid and loved to sail sunfish and lasers at camp. I never once thought about sailing around the world.. let alone around the lake more than 1 or 2 times...


hell no.. i have no desire to be stuck on a boat for more than a few days... i prefer a hot shower and a bed.. 4 years in the navy was enough for me... (and i have less than 2 weeks "sea time")