I agree that she didn’t belong out there. I also read on a sailing forum that she only piloted Wild Eyes for a few hours in good weather before leaving. The sailors said that’s not enough time to become familiar with the yacht.
She couldn’t even make it past Cabo before her autopilot burned out, and she had to make port and her dad installed two more.
See above about the criminal negligence of not also installing a quality windvane (Monitor or Sailomat) on a 40’er heading for the Southern Ocean.