My personal opinion is that they shouldn’t have let their child go. However, I don’t think that government should intervene in matters like this. Many people choose to live their lives on the edge of danger for whatever reasons. That is their right.
What concerns me is, who is paying for this rescue effort? If someone on one of the rescue boats should die trying to rescue her, who is responsible for that?
and i’m sure these boats weren’t sitting around doing nothing. What effort is being neglected because of a privileged families decision to live on the edge?

I don’t think that question should even be asked at this point! I find it very poor taste to second guess her parents and try to place some sort of guilt on them at a time like like this.
Jessica Watson was 16 and she managed to sail around the world recently sailing safely into Sydney Harbor about a month ago.
How cruel to be asking such stupid questions at a time like this…Abby is more qualified than many twice her age as is Jessica!!!

I hope she’s okay and is rescued but this entire thing is ridiculous and was preventable. Why is she out there? Trying to set a record to be the youngest to do something. Why are such records even kept? It’s unconscionable to let a child pursue such a risky endeavor for such a trivial reason. It’s reprehensible that something’s gone wrong but now the stupidity of allowing or encouraging this child to risk her life is compounded by all the other lives that will be risked to either rescue or recover her, if they can find her. Coast guards, navies, and shipping don’t exist to help get daredevils in pursuit of vain records out of trouble. This whole situation was avoidable but two especially bad parents chose to let her “think outside the box” even if it means bringing her back home in one. For what, a little cheap and quickly eclipsed (because then the next nitwit parent will want his or her younger child to break the record) vanity. That’s if they even can bring her back home. Is this kind of record really worth these consequences? Not if you really love your child more than your own freaking vanity.

this is addressed to parents–are you stupid or just so obessed with what MONEY or FAME might be gained–as a parent I wanted them excel–sports,grades–I truly hope she is OK and realizes her parents are using her to their gain–come on MOM and DAD–sending a 16 teen year old out to sail the world–the Mall is bad enough SHAME SHAME SHAME on you –and I agree you should be arrested for child endangerment–but how ever this turns out you’ll be paraded on all the talk shows–crying

The more you learn, the more chilling this story becomes. The father recounted that his daughter’s dream made him “excited.” It’s about him — his vanity, his misplaced and pious commitment to “listen” to his children. Well, you can get excited by children’s dreams — supportive, too — you can listen and be respectful of youthful ambition. But encouraging and facilitating this venture was — however it turns out — delusional — and criminal.

I think that Abby’s parents were irresponsible for letting there her go out into the large ocean alone. As she already experienced – storms do occur in the ocean. What if that would have been a hurricane or something else like that. What if her boat would have been seized by pirates? I know you can’t live life on what ifs, but…you can on common sense.