Sydney - An Australian too young to compete in the nation's famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race Saturday spent her last night on land before attempting to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. Jessica Watson, 16, is scheduled to sail out of Sydney Harbour on Sunday for a voyage of self discovery that the home-schooled teenager expects will take eight months.
Last month, maritime safety authorities questioned her competence following a collision at night with a 63,000-ton coal carrier in a busy sea lane off Brisbane.
Watson's 10.4-metre yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, was dismasted in the accident that came just a day into her journey down the east coast to Sydney to begin her record attempt.
Watson has refused to say whether she was asleep below decks when her fibreglass boat was almost sunk by the Chinese ship and needed 70,000-Australian-dollars (64,000-US-dollars) worth of repairs.
The mishap prompted a chorus of pleas for her to call off her voyage.
"Governments cannot legislate for commonsense," Queensland deputy premier Paul Lucas said. "All I say is, this is a very serious matter and I appeal to Jessica and her parents as to whether she is in fact ready to do this."
Watson hopes to beat a record set 10 years ago by fellow Australian Jesse Martin, who at 18 circumnavigated the globe on his own and unaided.
"I do actually have a lot of experience behind me and I suppose a lot of people don't realize that," Watson told national broadcaster ABC as she stowed a Christmas pudding and other treats below decks.
"You know, the first leg of my trip will be through the Pacific so it's kind of a calmer, easier time for me to get settled in, feel confident with the boat."
Watson, a sailor since she was 8 years old, denied being afraid but admitted to being apprehensive about the expected noisy send off on Sydney Harbour that well-wishers were planning.
"It's going to be a bit of a clown show really, a bit of a circus," she said. "But, I mean, it's so normal I suppose because it's been building up for so many years. It's just tomorrow I'm going to get up and sail around the world."
