Jessica Watson has been inducted into Australian Sailing’s Hall of Fame.Credit:Simon Schluter
Most people dream of escaping the office and sailing around the world. But as the top line of her CV makes clear, Jessica Watson isn’t most people.
Watson sailed around the world and then dreamed of entering an office.
“I have probably done things in a slightly different order,” Watson says.
From the time she was 13 years old and informed her parents she wanted to sail solo around the globe, Watson has never been one for the conventional path.
With a parental blessing that gets all the more remarkable with each year of hindsight, Watson famously fulfilled her dream of circumnavigating the world, unassisted, in 2010 – at the tender age of 16. Travelling for 210 days over 34,000 kilometres in “Ella’s Pink Lady”, Watson became the youngest person to sail a solo lap of the planet and became a household name.
A slew of awards and honours followed, including Young Australian of the Year in 2011. But after Watson let her public profile slowly fade in the dozen years since, the 29-year-old is preparing for a return of the spotlight in coming months.
A film is to be made in Queensland about the solo circumnavigation by Queenslander Jessica Watson.Credit:Dallas Kilponen
A feature movie based on her inspiring story is due for release early next year, and on Friday night Watson was inducted into the Sailing Australia Hall of Fame, joining a small group of luminaries like Kay Cottee, Syd Fischer and entire Australia II team. Olympic gold medallists Mathew Belcher, Tom King and Mark Turnbull were the other inductees at a ceremony at the Australian National Maritime Museum.
“I think you would have to be completely arrogant not to be really, really excited about being inducted into the Hall of Fame alongside your heroes, basically. It is a huge honour, and quite humbling,” Watson said.
“I am not young anymore, but it is something you’re honoured with at the end of a long career, so I feel very privileged.”
While she separates herself from most others in Australian sailing’s Hall of Fame as more of “an adventurer” than a racer, Watson didn’t pursue a life of chasing ever more-difficult and dangerous quests after being welcomed home by thousands in Sydney Harbour in 2010.
Jessica Watson, pictured at Sandringham Yacht Club, now sails for fun.Credit:Simon Schluter
Instead, after completing an MBA in 2017, Watson now happily works as a management consultant for Deloitte in Melbourne, and sails for fun.
It was important to take on new and different challenges.
Jessica Watson
“I certainly didn’t step off Pink Lady and say ‘ok, that’s enough sailing’ and, if anything, my appreciation has grown for it ten-fold since the big solo voyage around the world,” Watson said.
“But at the same time, it is probably something I have taken far less seriously in recent years. Performance sailing has never been something that is my passion, or even forte, but sailing has become something more important than that, and that’s a lifetime passion.”
Watson skippered the youngest ever crew in the 2011 Sydney to Hobart, and still gets on water most weeks. But she otherwise sought a career, and challenges in other areas, such as writing books, public speaking, working with the UN and co-founding a boating app.
“That was the thing I was constantly asked after I did the trip: What is next? What are you going to do to better that?” Watson said.
“I did definitely have a desire to keep challenging myself, but it was nice to do that in different ways. I really enjoyed pushing myself in different ways and that’s also involved in some off-water challenges, like a career and things like that.”
Jessica Watson, pictured with crewmates and her coach Chris Lewin, ahead of the 2011 Sydney to Hobart.Credit:Brendan Esposito
The story of Watson’s incredible teenage voyage has been made into a feature movie for Netflix called True Spirit, which is also the title of her successful biography.
Filmed in Queensland, the movie stars Anna Paquin and Josh Lawson, and with Teagan Croft playing Jessica. Watson’s long-time manager Andrew Fraser – one of the team behind the Academy Award-nominated Lion – co-produced the film.
“It is a very odd experience having your own story become something else, as well,” Watson said. “It is that story but it is also its own thing, where a wonderful creative team have had their own inputs, and taken something from it, and added to it as well. I love that.
“I had a wonderful couple of days sailing with Teagan and, hopefully, I got to show her a little taste of what I appreciate about being on the water.”
Jessica Watson now works as a management consultant and sails as a hobby.Credit:Simon Schluter
Reserved by nature, Watson admits to having a complicated relationship with her fame. In the years after her high-profile voyage, she steered towards a life out of the public eye and not attached to her teenage self. And Watson grieved privately when she lost her long-time partner Cameron Dale in 2021, after he tragically suffered a stroke.
But when meeting young people, Watson has come to realise the lasting impact of her voyage, and the value of inspiring the next teenager with a crazy dream.
“There were many years where I was pretty sick of my own story, and would shy away and want to move on, to some extent,” Watson said.
“I am very grateful it’s not the centre of everything I do, and I was pretty determined it wouldn’t be and there’d be other important parts of my life. It was important to take on new and different challenges.
“But I also realised how privileged I am to have the opportunity to have an effect on people, and to meet so many young people who you can make an impact on, just by saying hello and having a chat.
“It is so special, and it has probably taken me a long time to realise how lucky I am to be able to do that.”
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