Jessica Watson (and others) update - no heater and no main

by Nancy Knudsen on 6 Jan 2010 Australian sixteen-year-old solo sailor Jessica Watson is still sounding upbeat as she approaches the Southern Ocean and heads to round Cape Horn, in spite of her yacht's heater having broken down and a broken or twisted block depriving her of the use of the main.

While the seas are not overtaking her boat she can afford to sail with just the headsail, in the current 30 knots of wind, which can be expected to rise anything up to 80 or 100 knots when a gale passes through.

Gone are the sunny conditions of just days ago, as the Antarctic has assumed its accustomed grey skies.

In her blog, Jessica states that 'the odd big wave' is 'knocking us around a bit.'

In the meantime, her Californian counterpart 16-year-old Abby Sunderland is, with her team of helpers headed by her boat-builder father, frantically trying to ready her Open 40 Wild Eyes for her own solo assault on Cape Horn, and her own attempt to become the youngest solo sailor to circumnavigate the world non-stop and unassisted.

The Open 40 is a much faster boat (with much more potential for capsize) than that of Jessica, whose Sparkman & Stephens S&S 34 Ella's Pink Lady is the same yacht as was successfully used by both David Dicks and Jesse Martin in their round world voyages.

As Abby is several months younger than Jessica and her boat is potentially much faster, the competition between the two female sailors is almost like a repetition of the competition between Abby's brother Zac and the British teenager Mike Perham, who currently holds the record for the youngest round-world sailor.

However, neither of the boys sailed without stops - Mike because of necessary boat repair stops, Zac because he never intended a non-stop sail.

Drawing a parallel is compelling - Zac started earlier, but was older and in a slower boat, Mike was younger, started later in a much quicker boat. In that case, the tortoise won the race.

Who knows whether the older tortoise (Jessica, earlier, older, slower boat) or the younger hare (Abby, younger, later, faster boat) will win this 'non-competition' competition?

Let's just hope they both complete their journeys safely!