HERE WE GO AGAIN. A Dutch court has okayed 14-year-old Laura Dekker’s bid to become the youngest person to sail around the world. The court virtually handed over responsibility to her parents — and I don’t think there’s any possibility that her parents will hinder her ambition. At this point, young Laura does not plan to make it a non-stop voyage in her 38-foot ketch, however.
The youngest non-stopper so far is Australian Jessica Watson, of course, who was 16 when she sailed her S&S 34 back into Sydney a few weeks ago. Her rival, you will recall, was 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, of California, who had to abandon her Open 40 in the Southern Ocean after a capsize and dismasting.
I expect this urge to be the youngest will eventually tend to be self-correcting. You may remember that a 7-year-old girl who was attempting to establish a flying record was killed, along with her father and instructor, when her Cessna stalled and crashed after take-off at Cheyenne Airport. Similarly, there is presumably an age at which children are not capable of sailing around the world alone. I guess Laura Dekker and the rest of them are going to help us to establish it.
You’d think humans have been sailing around in boats for long enough now that all the records would be well established. After all, the grand-daddy of them all, Joshua Slocum, was the first person to sail around the world alone and he did it well over 100 years ago. But no, people keep trying new stuff.
Webb Chiles, for example, solo-sailed his 18-foot Drascombe Lugger, Chidiock Tichborne, almost all the way around the world — and she was a dinghy, an open boat without any pretense of a cabin. Chiles was a man who knew how to suffer.
And then Australian Serge Testa sailed his home-built, 12-foot, aluminum boat, Acrohc Australis (Southern Thing) clean around the world alone in the 1980s. It took him 500 days. She is still the smallest sailboat boat to circumnavigate.
But Testa’s cockleshell was quite a big boat compared with Hugo Vilhen’s. In 1993, Vilhen crossed the Atlantic in a boat just 5 feet 4 inches long.
And now we have Alessandro di Benedetto claiming the record for the smallest boat to sail non-stop around the world. Di Benedetto, born in France of Italian parents, took 270 days to complete the circumnavigation in a 21-foot Mini racer called Findomestic Banca. The interesting thing is that she was dismasted in ferocious weather west of Chile as she was approaching Cape Horn. In a commendable feat of seamanship, Di Benedetto managed to rig a 20-foot jury mast that took him all the way back home to France.
What’s next? Well, despite all the records, the field is still wide open. How about the smallest boat with the youngest skipper in the fastest time, non-stop, with eyes closed and hands tied behind back? It’s getting to that ludicrous stage, isn’t it?
Today’s Thought
Government and co-operation are in all things the laws of life; anarchy and competition the laws of death.
— John Ruskin
Boaters’ Rules of Thumb #77
Flag dimensions. Your ensign should be 1 inch on the fly (horizontal) for every foot of boat length overall. The hoist (vertical) should be about two-thirds of the fly. The staff needs to be about twice the length of the hoist. Courtesy flags should be about 5/8 inch on the fly for each foot of boat length.
Tailpiece
“Hi Fred. Sorry to hear your business burned down yesterday.”
“Hush, man! Not yesterday. Tomorrow, man, tomorrow.”
Showing posts with label records. Show all posts
Showing posts with label records. Show all posts
August 1, 2010
May 18, 2010
Slow boat to nowhere
Warner Ferguson (73) commodore of Cairns Yacht Club in Australia wants to create a world sailing record. He wants to be the oldest person to sail around the world non-stop, alone, and unassisted.
What makes his plan even more special is that Commodore Ferguson wants to do the trip in the very yacht used by Jessica Watson, the 16-year-girl who holds the record as the youngest non-stop solo circumnavigator.
I can just imagine Mr. Ferguson being interviewed in mid-passage by Dan Rather-Knot, of the Sailing Channel:
DR-K: What condition was the boat in when you got her?
WF: What’s that? Speak up, please I’m a little ...”
DR-K: Was she in good order?
WF: Yes, but she was only 16 you know.
DR-K: Not Jessica. The boat.
WF: Oh. I had to paint her. She was pink all over.
DR-K: The boat?
WF: Yes, the boat. Everything pink. Inside, outside, pink. Even the head was pink. Pink is for girls. I painted her blue.
DR-K: Was anything left on board after Jessica’s seven-month epic voyage?
WF: Deodorant bottles. Hair grips clogging the plumbing. Pink toenail varnish spilled over the chart table ... oh, and the boat turned left every time I wanted to go right.
DR-K: She varnished her toes on the chart table?
WF: ’Scuse me one moment, I need a pee ... Okay, I’m back. Where were we?
DR-K: Did anything surprise you?
WF: Yes, no dirty dishes in the sink — a miracle. No dirty socks under the mattress — another miracle. Little bags full of chocolate hidden everywhere. She obviously didn’t find them all. A toy elephant stuffed up the ventilator.
DR-K: How is the sailing going?
WF: Very nice.
DR-K; People are asking why you’re towing a parachute anchor behind you.
WF: To slow me down.
DR-K: But you’re going for the record.
WF: It’s the age record. The older I am when I finish, the better my record will be. So the slower I go now, the older I’ll be at the end.
DR-K: How long have you been going?
WF: I started when I was 73. I’m now 75. I should be 77 when I finish. But I can slow down more if necessary.
DR-K: Yes, I hear there’s an 80-year-old Japanese man setting out.
WF: Yes, but his eyesight’s not too good. With any luck he’ll run into an island and sink.
DR-K: Boy, that’s fighting talk. This is a tough competition.
WF: Yup, it takes guts to do this. Getting old is not for wimps. When you’re 16 it’s easy. You can hear and you can see and you don’t have to get out of bed to pee every 15 minutes. When you’re my age you suffer much more.
DR-K: What’s your most earnest wish?
WF: I’d like to finish just before I die, but not too long before. It’s tricky. If I die first, I don’t get the record. That stupid 80-year-old will get it.
DR-K: If he misses the islands.
WF: I’m praying he won’t. I don’t want to be beaten by an old fart of an 80-year-old.
DR-K: Er, yes, well, thank you for speaking with us, Mr. Ferguson. We wish you well. Travel safe and slow.
WF: What’s that? Safe and what? Hang on, need to go ... I’ll be back ...
Today’s Thought
Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.
— Maurice Chevalier
Boaters’ Rules of Thumb, #53
Diesel exhausts (3). White smoke. This is usually water vapor from contaminated fuel, a water leak into a cylinder, or atomized but completely unburned fuel. Air in the fuel can also cause white smoke.
Tailpiece
“I want a nice fancy bra for my wife.”
“What bust?”
“Nothing. The old one wore out.”
What makes his plan even more special is that Commodore Ferguson wants to do the trip in the very yacht used by Jessica Watson, the 16-year-girl who holds the record as the youngest non-stop solo circumnavigator.
I can just imagine Mr. Ferguson being interviewed in mid-passage by Dan Rather-Knot, of the Sailing Channel:
DR-K: What condition was the boat in when you got her?
WF: What’s that? Speak up, please I’m a little ...”
DR-K: Was she in good order?
WF: Yes, but she was only 16 you know.
DR-K: Not Jessica. The boat.
WF: Oh. I had to paint her. She was pink all over.
DR-K: The boat?
WF: Yes, the boat. Everything pink. Inside, outside, pink. Even the head was pink. Pink is for girls. I painted her blue.
DR-K: Was anything left on board after Jessica’s seven-month epic voyage?
WF: Deodorant bottles. Hair grips clogging the plumbing. Pink toenail varnish spilled over the chart table ... oh, and the boat turned left every time I wanted to go right.
DR-K: She varnished her toes on the chart table?
WF: ’Scuse me one moment, I need a pee ... Okay, I’m back. Where were we?
DR-K: Did anything surprise you?
WF: Yes, no dirty dishes in the sink — a miracle. No dirty socks under the mattress — another miracle. Little bags full of chocolate hidden everywhere. She obviously didn’t find them all. A toy elephant stuffed up the ventilator.
DR-K: How is the sailing going?
WF: Very nice.
DR-K; People are asking why you’re towing a parachute anchor behind you.
WF: To slow me down.
DR-K: But you’re going for the record.
WF: It’s the age record. The older I am when I finish, the better my record will be. So the slower I go now, the older I’ll be at the end.
DR-K: How long have you been going?
WF: I started when I was 73. I’m now 75. I should be 77 when I finish. But I can slow down more if necessary.
DR-K: Yes, I hear there’s an 80-year-old Japanese man setting out.
WF: Yes, but his eyesight’s not too good. With any luck he’ll run into an island and sink.
DR-K: Boy, that’s fighting talk. This is a tough competition.
WF: Yup, it takes guts to do this. Getting old is not for wimps. When you’re 16 it’s easy. You can hear and you can see and you don’t have to get out of bed to pee every 15 minutes. When you’re my age you suffer much more.
DR-K: What’s your most earnest wish?
WF: I’d like to finish just before I die, but not too long before. It’s tricky. If I die first, I don’t get the record. That stupid 80-year-old will get it.
DR-K: If he misses the islands.
WF: I’m praying he won’t. I don’t want to be beaten by an old fart of an 80-year-old.
DR-K: Er, yes, well, thank you for speaking with us, Mr. Ferguson. We wish you well. Travel safe and slow.
WF: What’s that? Safe and what? Hang on, need to go ... I’ll be back ...
Today’s Thought
Old age isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.
— Maurice Chevalier
Boaters’ Rules of Thumb, #53
Diesel exhausts (3). White smoke. This is usually water vapor from contaminated fuel, a water leak into a cylinder, or atomized but completely unburned fuel. Air in the fuel can also cause white smoke.
Tailpiece
“I want a nice fancy bra for my wife.”
“What bust?”
“Nothing. The old one wore out.”
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