dead Hilary Lister & other sailing nutjobs

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Speaking of Hilary action her web site now reports a planned circuit of the UK in a boat followed by transatlantic sailing and - maybe - taking part in one of the big yacht races like the Fastnet.

 

Obviously brave and admirable but - like - worthy of a mention here.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Just dropped back to her web site. S'funny the news hasn't been updated since the end of August last year, her events diary goes from August to this year's Boat Show - which she'd probably got scheduled months ahead - to nothing else.

 

The stuff about the sailing round the UK next year is still there but she doesn't seem to be up to a lot in terms of promoting herself of late. Be a damn shame if she doesn't give that a bash. I mean, she might stop overnight in Maryport!

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Next Friday they launch the boat that'll take her round the British coast and/or to certain death, or summat.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Geoff Holt, a bloke with the same problems and ambitions as Hilary, lasted a few miles. This sh*t is gonna end in tears for someone, the technology driving it is awesome but if our Geoff had fallen over at two in the morning somewhere off the north coast of Scotland......

[Banshees Scream 110]

'Mary' The Hillary Lister discussion seems to be all you.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Indeed, but give it some thought and investigation and you'll see it's got potential. What's driving this is a combination of disabled people rightfully pushing the barriers, boat builders and other sports technology experts making things possible and people willing to help. To put it bluntly, I think disabled sport is pushing barriers as fast as F1 in the sixties and seventies and because it's taking people into uncharted territory of performance there are no precedents for some of things going on and the safety only works in theory. Yer man Holt was damn lucky to fall overboard where he did.

 

All me or not, this is a thread, and area with points potential, especially where pools like the DDP - requiring only press coverage - are concerned.

 

Wish Holt and Hilary well, mind.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

June 9th is the start of her circumnavigation of the UK. The channel and the tour of the Isle of Wight are ont thing, but - bravery aside - this venture is one unforseen mishap away from full-on tragedy. We'll only know the safety precautions are adequate, when they are used for real.

[Godot 149]

June 9th is the start of her circumnavigation of the UK. The channel and the tour of the Isle of Wight are ont thing, but - bravery aside - this venture is one unforseen mishap away from full-on tragedy. We'll only know the safety precautions are adequate, when they are used for real.

MPFC I think your instincts have been right on this one all along. She will have a support boat, I'm sure. But, all the same, if the seas get up as they will at times, there is a chance the support crew wouldn't be able to get near.

 

It's not stupid, as Windsor has suggested. It's living and that's great for her, and if she dies, as could well happen, well she had a go at it. Good for her. I hope she succeeds but anyone who has her listed should keep a close eye on her progress. My guess is that, like Ran Fiennes on Everest, it will be a plucky attempt that doesn't make it.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Hilary Lister now plans to sail around the coastline of the UK....BRING IT ON!!!

 

 

And three years later, she's off. (It must have taken her a while to pack)

 

She's got a really interesting disease. I thought she has some sort of condition which would eventually kill her, but, horrible as the condition may be, reflex sympathetic dystrophy isn't fatal and sometimes the symptoms go away by themselves. Rates of depression and suicide are extremely high amoung sufferers.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

If it all ends under the sea d'ya think a paper as low as The Sport might be tempted into a headline like:

 

Record Breaking Blow Job Drowns Housewife!!

 

Oh, that one over there is my coat.

[TAFKAG 70]

She inspires only a clerihew, not a limerick:

 

Hilary Lister

Forgot her transistor

That's none too strategic

For a quadriplegic.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Round Britain dream is off for now. Got as far as Cornwall, mebbe the scrumpy was too good to leave behind. Either way, they're putting a brave face on it and promising us more thrills next year.

[DevonDeathTrip 2,358]

Rescued by a lifeboat after floundering somewhere between Fishguard and Milton Haven.

 

Hilary was safely transferred to the RNLI inshore lifeboat in the calmer waters of Fishguard harbour and an ambulance took the 37-year-old to Withybush Hospital where she spent two hours 'being warmed up'.

[VSBfromH 74]

Mission accomplished

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Official site gives the details, she covered the distance over a number of years in one-day sails, an amazing achievement, albeit not exactly the way they'd originally envisaged the whole caper. Bring on the Atlantic crossing, that'll be a bit hard in one day stints.

[Godot 149]

June 9th is the start of her circumnavigation of the UK. The channel and the tour of the Isle of Wight are ont thing, but - bravery aside - this venture is one unforseen mishap away from full-on tragedy. We'll only know the safety precautions are adequate, when they are used for real.

MPFC I think your instincts have been right on this one all along. She will have a support boat, I'm sure. But, all the same, if the seas get up as they will at times, there is a chance the support crew wouldn't be able to get near.

 

It's not stupid, as Windsor has suggested. It's living and that's great for her, and if she dies, as could well happen, well she had a go at it. Good for her. I hope she succeeds but anyone who has her listed should keep a close eye on her progress. My guess is that, like Ran Fiennes on Everest, it will be a plucky attempt that doesn't make it.

That's what comes from guessing.

[Guest Davy Jones' Locker]

Couldn't find any other suitable thread for this relating to "sailing" so someone might want to start a new topic....

 

 

What do we think about the odds of Jessica Watson surviving her attempt to be the youngest person to sail around the world. Last month, she only lasted a couple of miles before crashing into a cargo ship! Today, she sets sail again, despite a maritime safety report damning her lack of preparation.

 

 

Here is background on the story:

 

FIRST DISASTER AND BACKLASH FROM MEDIA/PUBLIC:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/09/2680368.htm

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/09/2681197.htm

 

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/26/2697379.htm

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...24-3102,00.html

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/comment...710-952,00.html

 

 

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/pc-rub...ling-the-globe/

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...5019132,00.html

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...5019132,00.html

 

 

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0...5019132,00.html

 

 

SETTING SAIL TODAY:

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/01/2701373.htm

 

********

So, what are your thoughts, dear Death Listers?

[Guest Davy Jones' Locker]

The youngster's blog:

 

 

http://www.youngestround.blogspot.com/

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

I'm in danger of sounding like Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells here but.......

 

One thing that stuns me about Ms Lister and the increasingly young circumnavigators is the lack of comment from the people who know the business and the dangers. This whole business is most certainly an accident waiting to happen. It stands to reason, the 'safety' for seriously disabled sailors will only be seriously tested when one of them has to survive bobbing in the ocean in the middle of the night, and the younger the global sailors get, the less experienced they are bound to be.

 

Of course, the really worrying aspect is the fact that some wouldbe global sailors are so young they're ineligable for points in most of the major deadpools. I shall write to my MP etc etc.

[Geronimo 3]

I'm in danger of sounding like Disgusted of Tonbridge Wells here but.......

 

One thing that stuns me about Ms Lister and the increasingly young circumnavigators is the lack of comment from the people who know the business and the dangers. This whole business is most certainly an accident waiting to happen. It stands to reason, the 'safety' for seriously disabled sailors will only be seriously tested when one of them has to survive bobbing in the ocean in the middle of the night, and the younger the global sailors get, the less experienced they are bound to be.

 

Of course, the really worrying aspect is the fact that some wouldbe global sailors are so young they're ineligable for points in most of the major deadpools. I shall write to my MP etc etc.

What are people who know the business and the dangers to say? Don't do it, its too dangerous? That would be a bit hypocritical. All accidents are waiting to happen. If you never tried to cross the road, you'd never get run over. What are you after MPFC, an accident free society where no-one tries to do anything? Disabled people, or any other people for that matter, don't go to the sea in boats to be safe. Sometimes I wear a life jacket, sometimes I don't. That's a matter of personal judgement. In the same way I pee off the back of the boat rather than squat in the heads. That choice ended the life of Eric Tarbarly one the world's greatest single-handed sailors (if not the greatest single-handed peer). But it was his choice.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

I'm after deadpool points Geronimo and I would defend the right of Ms Lister to tease us with her voyages. But it does strike me as strange that the highest profile performers in a sport that courts publicity for the sake of sponsorship haven't got much to say either way on this issue. Mountaineers - by contrast - seem prone to discussing the perils of their craft, most of the leading climbers who have lost friends write/speak about it and can be called on to pass comment when a colleague is missing presumed dead etc.

[Guest Davy Jones' Locker]

Hello Maryport,

 

 

In one of the articles I have read from the Courier Mail (not sure if it is one to which I linked above) it mentioned that at least one experienced round-the-world sailor has tried to contact Jessica to offer advice but she was "not returning his calls."

 

 

 

I've read a few other comments on Aussie news outlets by experienced sailors who do not think she is old enough and a few have raised concerns about her equipment, lack of planning and so on.

 

 

We will see how this journey unfolds but a few people have felt a sense of foreboding about the whole endeavour, for the reasons stated above.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Hello Maryport,

 

 

In one of the articles I have read from the Courier Mail (not sure if it is one to which I linked above) it mentioned that at least one experienced round-the-world sailor has tried to contact Jessica to offer advice but she was "not returning his calls."

 

 

 

I've read a few other comments on Aussie news outlets by experienced sailors who do not think she is old enough and a few have raised concerns about her equipment, lack of planning and so on.

 

 

We will see how this journey unfolds but a few people have felt a sense of foreboding about the whole endeavour, for the reasons stated above.

 

 

Cheers

 

Aussie papers are not great sellers in West Cumbria, so obviously I'd missed that.

[Guest Sinking Hopes]

Given the huge media circus that has developed around the whole trip, I think that if Jessica Watson does have a fatal accident, it will be the biggest Australian celebrity death of the year.

 

 

Hope that doesn't take the wind out of her sails.

[Lord Fellatio Nelson 6,218]

Ok I admit to being a lazy sod, I havent read this whole thread.........

However, I need to know whether Ms Lister has been able to procure life insurance?

Regarding her disability. Being quadriplegic, I assume that control of the boat will be confined to somesort of computer controlled by eye/mouth/ breath?

If the above is true WTF is so difficult in what she is doing?

As a non sailor, if i was taught what buttons needed pressing to carry out different functions, would I not be able to learn to sail quicker than if I was able bodied?

Is it not the fact that we are all waiting for her to drown that makes this headline news?

If she was that f'ucking clever she would do it without a support craft like anybody else.

Sorry, I think the phrase "Know your limits" spring to mind here.

She is controlling a boat in a manner that can be taught to other non sailors, she is no more the Captain than the computer.

Is it not easier to pass your driving test in an Automatic car than a manual?

Look, I understand the kind of headline they are looking for, something like "Man with no arms and legs climbs Everest with his knob" but is it a bit all pretend?

She is on a boat, cant move except for her eyes and breathing yet we are top believe her high skills/bravery as a Sailor will enable her to criss cross this water or that water ALL BY HERSELF!!!

Yep, its dangerous, less so when the boat is on a virtual auto pilot

Hmmmm.