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Airdate: Jessica Watson: True Spirit

ONE will air a documentary on teenage sailor Jessica Watson next month hosted by Sir Richard Branson.

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ONE will air a documentary on teenage sailor Jessica Watson next month, no doubt as part of its sponsorship arrangement of her round the world adventure.

The special even features Sir Richard Branson as its host, and will include never before seen footage.

Jessica Watson: True Spirit allows viewers a unique insight into the extensive preparations Jessica and her team made for the big voyage, her journey and the battles she fought along the way.

Sailing more than 24,000 nautical miles in seven months, Jessica battled sleep deprivation, gale-force winds,
mountainous seas and solitude most of us can only imagine on her quest to become the youngest person to
sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world.

“The documentary tells the whole story of my voyage, from the preparation at the start, right through to the
amazing homecoming in Sydney,” said Jessica.

There are lots of fun clips in there and also plenty of vision from out on the ocean, so I hope everyone enjoys
it. I’m also really excited that Sir Richard Branson is doing the voiceover for it, which is pretty cool!” she said.
When Jessica triumphantly sailed back into Sydney Harbour, after spending 210 days at sea, she was welcomed by tens of thousands of people including the then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Perhaps Jessica’s epic journey is best summed up by the young lady herself who believes she isn’t a hero but
“…just an ordinary girl who had a dream and worked hard at it and proved that anything is possible.”

Jessica Watson: True Spirit will air on ONE on Monday, August 16 at 7.30pm.

10 Responses

  2. If you have tried sailing a small dinghy in big seas, as I have, very early in my sailing career, you would undersatnd what an amazing feat she has achieved! I reckon many of us admire those that test their skills, mental and physical toughness and willpower to succeed in extreme conditions. I certainly do.

    Too many people never experience the adrenalin rush of facing the seemingly impossible, and then succeeding. I have, in two sports – gliding and sailing. Both involved danger, skill and mental and physical toughness. But what I did pales into insignificance to what this kid has done. An amazing feat. Well done Jessica!

  4. @Bazza: do hear a hint of jealousy in that comment? Because essentially what you’re saying is, anything you do in life, that doesn’t support sick whales or dying dalmations, is an ego trip. All our Olympians and sportsmen/ women are all pretty competing in one big ego trip. Heck, I’m trying to finish a uni degree, nit so I can support some environmental cause, rather, simply because I want a qualification that is higher than the high school certificate, therefore, I must be on an ego trip because my degree only benefits myself.

    Anyway, back on topic, I’ll be watching this, never saw any of the one HD coverage of Jessica Watson while she was on the voyage, so this should be interesting.

  5. Ten could do worse than repeat this on the mainstream channel on weekend afternooons, compared to some of the random stuff they currently air.

  6. @Craig

    Well, she didn’t do anything of substance…. You simply can’t drag that out so long. You can’t say she was doing it to raise money for sick whales in Africa or anything, it was pretty much an ego trip, followed by a feelgood session very reminiscent of the America’s Cup. Even the current media dross-machine can’t keep that thin amount of hype going indefinitely.

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