Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet one of my heroines Jessica Watson who recently became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.
I’ve been involved in the world of sailing since 1995 when I first worked for one of the sponsors of Cowes Week – Europe’s largest sailing regatta, and my fascination with offshore sailing was born when I was posted in Cape Town for the 1997-8 Whitbread Round the World Race. From that day on I have marvelled at the heroics and bravery of this rare breed of sailors who pit their wits against the most ferocious of wind, storms and oceans to circumnavigate this beatiful planet of ours.
Ellen Macarthur was the first of these when she raced around the world to set the fastest single handed attempt ever in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds. Her website was a superb way of watching how she was progressing with live tracking and regular video blog updates, a format I then used for my Trans-Africa expedition Afritrex.
Jessica Watson became the next of those female legends earlier this year by putting the doubters to shame when she completed her own epic voyage at the age of 16. Jess now comes onboard the good ship Tourism Queensland as our ‘Sailing Ambassador’ and together we launched the ‘Season of Sailing‘ which encompasses five events that take place along the Queensland coastline from early August taking in the following events:
She’s a great character and has very much taken the acheivement in her stride and really loves the sport she’s lucky enough to be involved with. Fingers crossed we’ll be working together again next year…watch this space!
Ben 
‘Season of Sailing’ with Jessica Watson
Yesterday I was lucky enough to meet one of my heroines Jessica Watson who recently became the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.
I’ve been involved in the world of sailing since 1995 when I first worked for one of the sponsors of Cowes Week – Europe’s largest sailing regatta, and my fascination with offshore sailing was born when I was posted in Cape Town for the 1997-8 Whitbread Round the World Race. From that day on I have marvelled at the heroics and bravery of this rare breed of sailors who pit their wits against the most ferocious of wind, storms and oceans to circumnavigate this beatiful planet of ours.
Ellen Macarthur was the first of these when she raced around the world to set the fastest single handed attempt ever in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes 33 seconds. Her website was a superb way of watching how she was progressing with live tracking and regular video blog updates, a format I then used for my Trans-Africa expedition Afritrex.
Jessica Watson became the next of those female legends earlier this year by putting the doubters to shame when she completed her own epic voyage at the age of 16. Jess now comes onboard the good ship Tourism Queensland as our ‘Sailing Ambassador’ and together we launched the ‘Season of Sailing‘ which encompasses five events that take place along the Queensland coastline from early August taking in the following events:
She’s a great character and has very much taken the acheivement in her stride and really loves the sport she’s lucky enough to be involved with. Fingers crossed we’ll be working together again next year…watch this space!
Ben