Is it possible to sail a J24 by yourself?
That is a question often asked by students on one of the instruction boats of Pacific Sailing School.
“Sure, no problem”, is generally the instructors answer.
I recently had the pleasure of talking to Jessica Watson, a 16-year old girl from the Gold Coast, who is about to set off on a solo trip around the world. If she succeeds she will be the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world and take the record of fellow sailor Jesse Martin. Not bad for someone who was scared of water at the age of 8. Watson plans to start her 23,000 mile quest in mid-September.
“That gives me plenty of time to reach Cape Horn before winter starts and hopefully enough time to be back in Australia before my 17th birthday”, said Watson.
She will be sailing on Youngestround.com, a 34 footer, which is only ten feet longer than a J24.
Family groups have criticized Watson and her family by calling the solo trip dangerous and irresponsible. Watson finds the comments somewhat amusing. “Everybody has an opinion, but they forget that it has taken years of preparation and I’m not a reckless person, anyway. I’m not someone who jumps off a cliff just for the sake of it.”
In the next few months Watson will be doing all kinds of courses, from survival courses to diesel engineering, to finishing off her preparation. And that is the moral of the story: as long as you are well prepared you can deal with any situation, whether it is Watson on Youngestround or a student on a J24.
By Instructor Marc van Dinther of Pacific Sailing School
Pacific Sailing School support women in sailing and sponsor an annual ‘Women on Water’ trophy for the J24 Association. In addition Terry's eldest daughter Elizabeth completed in many sailing events from Cadet Nationals to a J24 World Championship before she turned 16 and sails the schools J24s singlehanded.
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