Is Jessica Too Young???

With the second half of the year into full swing, things in the sailing world are naturally heading to the other, and dare I say it, more interesting Boxing Day event - The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.  Along with the increase in safety requirements brought about by the tragic events of the 1998 S2H, a minimum age requirement of 18 years was also brought into the race rules... 

  ...now enter the diminutive Jessica Watson. 

For those who missed the single line article in the Sunshine Coast Daily, apparently Jessica (aged 16 at the time) recently completed a solo circumnavigation in a little pink yacht. 

As it turns out, Jessica would therefore be ineligible to sail in this years race.

I followed the journey on her blog and have seen the documentary of her trip, and i really doubt the conditions she would encounter could be much worse than those experienced on her recent travels...don't get me wrong, i have the utmost respect for the strip of water down the SE coast and Bass Strait...i've also seen the footage of the '98 S2H - and those were horrendous conditions. 

But are there times when we should allow the rules to be tweaked slightly???

The number of people who have been exposed to sailing thanks to the efforts of Jessica's marketing team has been phenomenal, why don't we want these people also following ocean racing???   

Meanwhile in, after what I can only describe after watching her DVD as Jessica's relaxed style, she hasn't entered the debate. She doing the important things, like learning to drive and having fun, yacht racing at Hamilton Island....

...just the thoughts of a relatively fair weather sailor, sailing his little boat in protected waters...