Hopes sailor can "give critics the fingers" 

Source: SundayJessica Watson

The New Zealand grandfather of Jessica Watson says he hopes she can achieve her goal to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe non-stop and give her critics the fingers.

The Australian 16-year-old set off from Sydney in her yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, on Monday with a plan to be back around the middle of next year without having touched land.

Her voyage, which will cover 38,000 kilometres, leads her first into northern New Zealand waters before going on to to Fiji, Samoa, South America and South Africa, and then the final 7,400km leg back to Australia.

The attempt has been the subject of much controversy, with many, including the Queensland government, calling for the teenager to abandon it.

Concerns grew further last month, when her yacht collided with a 63,000-tonne cargo vessel off North Stradbroke Island on her first attempt to sail from the Gold Coast to Sydney.

Her grandfather, Gordon Chisholm, of Cromwell, Central Otago, said he was proud to see Jessica following her long-held dream.

"She just came out with it one day, and said 'I'm going to do this' and she's been quite single-minded on that ever since," he told The New Zealand Herald.

Chisholm said he felt a lot of the criticism over Jessica's attempt was based on ignorance.

"I hope like mad she can give them the fingers. I think she's got a pretty good chance of doing that."

He and his wife, Margaret, planned to keep in touch with Jessica via email, because phone calls to the yacht "cost an arm and a leg".

He said he had no fears for her wellbeing because he and his wife had been involved in the preparations for her journey over the past few years.

"We are more than satisfied that everything possible is being done. So her chances are as good as anybody's chances."

Jessica's age was not a big issue, because "she's a wee bit unique for a kid of that age", Chisholm said.

"Her decision-making abilities, as far as we were concerned, were top rate."

To qualify for the record, the yacht must cross all lines of longitude and cross the equator into the northern hemisphere at least once before returning to Sydney.