Girl sailor slept during collision

By PAUL HARRIS, SMH

JESSICA WATSON: A crash on her first day out of port was not an auspicious start for the youngster's plan to sail solo around the world.

Relevant offers

Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Jessica Watson admits she may have been sleeping when her yacht collided with a cargo ship off the Australian coast.

Jessica's yacht Ella's Pink Lady was damaged in a collision with the 63,000 tonne cargo vessel Silver Yang, off the Sunshine Coast in the early hours of September 9.

The Queensland schoolgirl was heading to Sydney on a test run before attempting to break the record for the youngest person to sail solo around the world.

Jessica told TVNZ's Sunday programme she had a number of collision avoidance systems running at the time but admitted she was catching "a few cat naps".

The narrow brush with death was "terrible for her confidence" but showed she could handle such a situation and come out of it.

"In a big way it was a relief to know now I can cope with that sort of emergency at sea.

"I accept responsibility, you can't have a collision without two boats."

She still planned to embark on the eight-month journey before the Pacific cyclone season starts.

Meanwhile, her New Zealand-born parents Roger and Julie, believe she can still complete the journey.

Mrs Watson said she did not feel they were being irresponsible, they were putting every precaution into place. The family was not in it for the money and Jessica could earn millions if successful, but wanted to support her daughter in her dream, she said.

Mrs Watson said she would feel more concerned about her going to a night club rather than sailing around the world.

Meanwhile, a Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) report into the collision showed basic problems led to the crash.

The report said Jessica kept "irregular latitude and longitude entries" and that the young sailor had no course plots nor a fatigue management plan.

It also said she most likely "dozed off" before the cargo vessel hit her yacht and that she had not turned on an alarm device which could have warned her of the approaching ship.

Acting Queensland premier Paul Lucas appealed for her to call the trip off. He was concerned there were external influences coming into play and that safety books may be ignored for the sake of the record book.

"I am concerned she has not prepared adequately for this journey and the pressure of weather (conditions) and, indeed the pressure of when she turns older in age and therefore not be subject to the record, should not be allowed to take the place of safety.

"I hope and pray that everything goes fine."

However, on her website yesterday, Jessica said she remained on track to achieve her goal.

The MSQ letter was confidential and made some recommendations which had been adhered to, despite the fact that the incident occurred outside MSQ's jurisdiction, the website said.

"It is disappointing that the MSQ letter has been leaked to the media.

"Jessica's team will continue to treat the MSQ letter as confidential and, as such, will not be making any comment on the contents."

She planned to sail to Sydney later next week.

- NZPA