The whole idea seems crazy to me, but I'd be interested to hear the technical details that were evident beforehand.
Partly because Abby was a completly unknown quantity (apart from being Zac's sister). Coincidentally they both announced the voyage to the press 5 months before departure (Jessica in May, Abby in August) but if you look on Google news there is nothing on Abby planning a voyage prior to this, while Jessica is reported earlier at the end of 2008 http://www.sail-world.com/Australia/Another-Teen-Solo---15-year-old-Jessica-is-on-her-way/52638.
By the time of the Press conference, she already had the boat, the team, and a plan for a three month refit.
In August, Abby was still two months away from getting the boat, and the fitting out seemed to be a rushed case of doing what we can in the time available.
Then there was the boat. Pink Lady is an S&S34, a classic 4ksb (4knotsh..boat), not fast, but a tough, reliable endurance boat. An ideal boat for a novice sailor. Similar to the old DH82 Tiger Moth trainer aircraft, easy to fly/sail, much harder to fly/sail well. And the design has a proven track record in non-stop Southern Ocean sailing.
Wild Eyes is a racer. It may have been designed for Southern Ocean racing, but not non-stop. Legs shorter, harder to sail, and almost impossible to sail into the wind. It's only advantage is speed in the hands of an experienced sailor. But running SE down the Pacific, Abby was slower than Jessica. Says Laurie's choice was a mistake, made from not understanding the situation
Then there was the backing from other sailors. With people like Don McIntyre, Ian McKiernan, Pete Goss backing Jess it was hard to differ. Nobody had heard of Abby, while every RTW sailor who actually met Jessica believed she could do it. And that was a lot, the impression is that a couple of years ago any RTW sailor in Australia found it hard to avoid a 14/15 year old girl asking "what was it like?", "what were the problems?" What worked? "What didn't?".
Preparation. Preparation. Preparation.