It's not about her abilities as a sailor. It's about her ability to evaluate risks, the possible outcomes regarding some of those risks and make a sound judgment regarding them. The best sailor in the world is unlikely to do that if they are 16. That's what parents are for.
It’s part of being a sailor, at any age. I’m telling you that with 50 foot seas, having the parents on board wouldn’t have mattered.
You can’t outrun weather in a sailboat. She was in contact an hour before the EPIRB was detected. That’s a killer datum point. Any SAR effort would be lucky to have such a good datum. To me, that’s all the proof I need that she was as prepared as she could be.
She was doing a bang up job before the 50 foot seas hit.
Spend a month at the Cape Disappointment small boat station and get a flavor for some of the ‘experienced mariners’ the CG ends up having to pluck off the bar. Guys with 20 years experience going out when the entrance is closed.
I simply love the geniuses that short cut the buoys and rip the keel off their yacht. “So THAT’s what ‘Red right returning’ means!!”
Nope. You can’t convince me that age makes you any better at evaluating, AND THEN ACTING ON, the risks at sea.
Respect for the sea trumps experience in most cases. Sometimes respect isn’t enough. You can be doing everything right and still die at sea.