Abby Sunderland's Solo Sail Around The World

A lot of things have bothered me about the Abby Sunderland story. If you don't know, she is the 16 year old American girl who was attempting to sail solo around the world. It would make her the youngest person ever to attempt this feat. To me this is another example of how the quest for 'records' can be harmful for someone too young to realize the difficulty of the quest they have set for themselves. Especially a sailing record where experience on the sea separates the living from the dead.

Now I should say that the Australian girl (Jessica Watson) who recently completed her round the world sail at age 17 had me question the soundness of her 'dream' when she started it also. I fully expected a similar crisis that young Abby seems to be facing (she has tripped her rescue beacons several hours ago and not been heard from since) to befall Jessica. I followed her trip and there were times when she faced some pretty dangerous seas. She did succeed, however, alone and unassisted. Was that luck or skill? It's hard to say.

The following comment accompanied an article about Abby Sunderland and I thought it said a lot of the same things I was thinking. I do hope they find her alive and that this story doesn't have a tragic ending. I would hate to find out later that she was pressured into a task that was beyond her skill set.

"These kids, and I do mean KIDS, are addicted to attention - constantly texting, talking on their cellphones, hooked on 'Facebook' and 'Twitter, American Idol - the list goes on and on, and now they must get their 15 minutes of fame and at an ever increasingly younger age. Abby now wants to beat Jessica Watson who was (gasp) 5 months older than her when she attempted it and succeeded . What's most troubling was Abby's comment after she first set sail: "It was completely overwhelming," she said. "I mean, there was people everywhere, and boats, and all this noise and commotion and stuff. And then all of a sudden it just leaves, and you're the only person out there...or this one: "I got hit by a rogue wave," she said. "I did get knocked down. ... I'd be happy if that didn't happen again."... Really?? You mean you weren't prepared for that?? And the parents sound like 'stage' parents, the father actually getting excited when his daughter mentioned that she wanted to do this at 13 (!) : "I think Abigail set out to sail around the world and she will accomplish that." IMO, this is child endangerment pure and simple. Now the family is in a panic, trying to put together a rescue unit to find Abby, who her bother says "she's in the middle of nowhere pretty much" and that they're "still trying to figure out the rescue situation.".....yup, sounds like a plan to me. MORONS."

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/youngest-sailor-abby-sunderland/story?id=10799629