Abby Sunderland Leaves Cabo

Just five days after sailing into Cabo San Lucas to effect repairs to the charging system of her Open 40 Wild Eyes, Marina del Rey’s Abby Sunderland, 16, set off again on Saturday in her bid to become the world’s youngest non-stop solo circumnavigator. Abby wrote in her blog that she is "looking on the past as a sea trial. I found a few problems, and now they’re fixed. This time, I’m ready for the world!" Since the unexpected stopover is north of the equator — she has to cross the imaginary line twice to be eligible for the record — she is perfectly free to simply begin again. Despite what some readers might think, we sincerely hope that she is ready for the world.

In last Monday’s ‘Lectronic Latitude, we reported on Abby’s decision to stop, and have since received a few complaints that the piece was overly harsh on the young sailor. "While it cannot be denied there seem to be some difficulties there, your writer needs to keep in mind she is talking about a 16-year-old girl," wrote Kate Bird in response to Monday’s report. "The article dripped with unnecessary sarcasm, even though she certainly has a valid point regarding planning and preparation. There’s just no need to be mean about it."

Overall, we believe our coverage of both Abby Sunderland and her ‘rival’, Jessica Watson, has been relatively even-handed, if colored by our concern about the younger and younger ages of wannabe record-breakers, as well as the haste in which some of their preparations were made. But what do you think? Have we been too hard on Abby or Jessica? Too easy? (NOTE: Thanks for all the responses! We’ve received more than we can possibly publish so are closing the request for comments.)