14 year old girl to sail around the world.

Yup. Completely insane.
Some parents are getting so out of hand that they may have to create new laws to prevent things like this from happening. Or from getting worse.

She can't drive, smoke, drink, vote or move out on her own.

But she can sail SOLO around the world? :huh:

MAH
 
There's a video (certainly somewhere on the net)... that I don't want to see again... of a 13 (or so) year old boy that wanted to be the youngest to sky-dive... Well, as you might imagine... the parents watched in horror as the kid jumped out of the plane and never pulled the rip-cord.

They initially thought it was a malfunction... but they say he never even attempted to pull the rip-cord.

You know the term "sensory overload"?

I think anybody who agrees to allow their child into a potentially... INCREDIBLY... dangerous situation... should have to read the definition of that a hundred times out loud.

If that girl encounters any of a hundred possible scenarios... it probably won't matter how smart or capable she is... and we'll bump this thread with the sad reality. Most likely it will remain a mystery for the rest of the parents' lives as she simply goes missing.

Hey, I hope it works out for her... but there are several million people that buy lotto tickets every day because they are so good at imagining their lives after beating the odds.

I'm not saying it's bad to take risks... but... well... like I said... I'm not THAT BIG of a gambler.
 
I won't even let my daughter play outside by herself. That sh!t is crazy. no way in hell. I love my kids too much to knowingly put them in harms way. Not saying they don't love their kid but you know what I mean.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Yup. Completely insane.
Some parents are getting so out of hand that they may have to create new laws to prevent things like this from happening. Or from getting worse.

She can't drive, smoke, drink, vote or move out on her own.

But she can sail SOLO around the world? :huh:

MAH
Click to expand...


Exactly. This sh*t is crazy. I bet the parents have the reality show pitch down pat!.
 
MattinSTL said:
There's a video (certainly somewhere on the net)... that I don't want to see again... of a 13 (or so) year old boy that wanted to be the youngest to sky-dive... Well, as you might imagine... the parents watched in horror as the kid jumped out of the plane and never pulled the rip-cord.

They initially thought it was a malfunction... but they say he never even attempted to pull the rip-cord.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but this sounds fraudulent.

1) Never jumped anywhere, or heard of any outfit where any one younger than 18 is permitted to jump, for obvious liability reasons. Okay, there was that time with the dog. But he was at least 18 in dog years.

2) A first-time skydiver never makes a free-fall jump alone. Static line jumps may be performed solo but your first several free-falls are made together with an instructor who is there - among other reasons - to pop your canopy for you in case you freeze up.

3) Modern parachutes are fitted with an AAD including a barometric pressure sensor: if you don't manually rip, the device will do it for you. Can an AAD malfunction? Sure, it's just a mechanical device. Do I believe that an AAD just *happened* to malfunction on a jump where an untrained skydiver was solo'ing on their very first free-fall jump? That's a hard sell.

MattinSTL said:
You know the term "sensory overload"?
Click to expand...

Yes, a first-time free-fall has the potential to do that to you. Another reason students jump with an instructor and an AAD.

I guess it's possible that the family might have found some irresponsible bozo to take the kid up in the plane and let him exit without any proper training or safety equipment, and in total contravention of USPA regs. But that's about the only way I see it happening.
 
I have been following this for a while, I have a sailboat and am on all the sailing boards, lots of talk about it there for the past 8 or 9 months, friends from the board know her and her family pretty well. She actually ran away several months ago and showed up at their house in the caribbean. I had a feeling there will be no stopping her...

When I was 14 I wanted to build a home built airplane and fly it around the world, my parents wouldn't let it happen.
 
I have not heard the one about the 13ish year old boy dying skydiving but in other countries they do not have the regulations we have here, anything goes.
 
Unfortunately, yes.

My principle advice concerning dogs and skydiving: they do not mix. At least, not very happily.
 
Max... I don't remember the exact age, and I think it was Guatemala... and it obviously wasn't his FIRST jump... just as the girl isn't going to sail solo, for her FIRST sailing outing around the world. When I talk sensory overload... I'm talking about things that age and maturity prepare you for... processing thought under duress... vs. simply knowing what to do in a given situation. People don't necessarily do what they know under pressure... real pressure... life and death pressure... that's what will probably get that girl in trouble. Even simply having her father THERE as a safety net... will make her mind process challenges differently. That kid was probably strapped to an experienced guy many times... or even static line... but deep down, when you jump like that... you know that life and death isn't purely up to your own actions.

Whatever... this is the "tamest" version of the video I could find in a quick search:

http://www.guzer.com/videos/skydiving_accident.php
 
Oh. Well, gods know what passes for safety standards, in Guatemala.

Watched the video. Decent exit. Reasonably good form for a first-timer, although he apparently didn't remember how to correct a flat spin. Don't know what the hell would possess anyone to free-fall at such a low altitude, though, if there were options. Doesn't look to me like he could have been much over 6000' AGL, which may have been part of the problem.

Just foolish.
 
That 14 year old chick 'aint from the USA either... I was making more of a statement about parental stupidity then anything else.
 
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