Ooh shiny...

This is kinda scary, a good point, and today's word is "coercion"...

The other day I was reading the new issue of Cruising World magazine which had a fairly effusive article about the boat Kiwi Spirit and the man (Stanley Paris) who sails it...

I'll be honest, if I'd been reading a print copy of Cruising World I most likely would have thrown it against the bulkhead but, being that I was reading it on my MacBook, simply turned off my computer and fumed.

Now, it's not that I have anything against an old guy with a lot of money wanting to set some kind of record on a super-expensive (some might say excessive) purpose made boat... It is, after all, a free world and whatever floats your boat is OK. No, what really gets up my nose is the fawning sort of Ooh Shiny adulation that Cruising World shows for the man/project...

As I recall, a similar project was met with no small amount of disdain when Jessica Watson started her bid for the youngest non-stop solo circumnavigation.

Of course, there are some differences... there's the youngest/oldest thing, which kind of balances out when you think about it, but then there is the money thang.

Watson did her circumnavigation on a shoestring (as these things go) with an old S&S 34 while Mr Paris seems to have very deep pockets and sailing a state-of-the-art 63-foot boat and there, it would seem, lies the difference.

These days it is not the adventure as much as it is about the money... If you want to impress me I want to see someone do it with less and more in tune with nature.

As for Dr Paris, I truly hope he succeeds in his quest to get around in one piece, set his record, and get his 15-minutes of fame... After all, Kiwi Spirit certainly looks like a boat more than capable to do it with and he is spending a lot of money so it's only fair he gets full value. 

Listening to the Zac Brown Band

So it goes...