Let s cut the hype and make this a better article The lead says She is currently the youngest individual to sail non stop and unassisted around the world That is an ambiguous statement Somewhere documented around the time of Kay Cottee s circumnavigation there were three conditions laid down for circumnavigation 1 Pass through all meridians of longitude 2 Travel some distance through both hemispheres 3 Pass through two antipodean points Kay Cottee fulfilled only the first two and it now appears that Jessica Watson has done the same Thus she has not fulfilled all three conditions and that should be in the statement If you include all three the statement is wrong if the first two only it is right The issue of the record is a major controversy Records for youngest are no longer recognised both in international sailing and by other bodies such as the Guinness Book of Records This is for the obvious reason of not wanting to encourage attempts by people far too young to do it safely She also did not travel far enough to satisfy formal requirements for around the word The circumference of the earth is around 40 000 km She travelled around 26 000 km Someone has suggested that her trip might more accurately albeit outrageously be described as circumnavigating Antarctica Accurate and very demeaning She did a lot more than circumnavigate Antarctica As I see it quoting the three conditions above and saying that she fulfilled the first two only is the most accurate way that I can think of The source for that lead statement quickly addresses those issues The lead must be softened to reflect them Those wanting to publicise how well she has done should record her actual achievements distance age time etc but because of the obvious doubts stop insisting that it is a record That is simply reflecting media hype and obvious POV What if it is the majority POV I concur that reference to a record should not be there But really amongst the knowledgeable sailors this isn t a record She herself said as much during the interview yesterday saying it was never about that her grandfather admitted it on 7 news a few nights ago and most of the daily papers are reporting it as no record Officially it isn t a record unofficially she failed to meet the requirments As far as I can see the only people reporting it as a record are PR types and some media saying she is the youngest to sail around the world is wrong Jesse Martin holds the only recognised record and the fact that Jessica sailed less than 21 600 nm also disqualifies her The last section on youth circumnavigators should say Jesse Martin I disagree There are other definitions for circumnavigation than all three conditions I mentioned above eg just taking the first two Kay Cottee did well with just those two So long as the word circumnavigation is qualified I see no problem in using it This is what was reported in the media yesterday regarding the voyage ninemsn When Jessica Watson sails into Sydney Harbour after her round the world sea voyage this month she won t be breaking any world records That depends on the definition of record She has done something that nobody as young as she is has done That could qualify as a record although not an official record The SMH after the trip smh may 16 A world record as youngest to circumnavigate the globe It s now well established that she didn t achieve that according to the strict guidelines laid down by the World Sailing Speed Record Council It seems to me it is now well known she didn t quite meet the rules She met two of the three rules and as such she should be accorded that achievement True the WSSRC and the Guinness Book of Records don t want to know that she s the youngest to do that but others might Anybody else