JESSICA WATSON Courage on and off the water

While True Spirit was being filmed, celebrating her teenage solo circumnavigation, the 29-year-old was battling her biggest challenge ashore

"Generally, I actually am quite a risk-averse person, and don’t like doing crazy things, I know that’s really hard to believe.” 

Thirteen years ago, in 2010, Jessica Watson made history when she sailed solo, non-stop around the world aged 16.

Now, as a film inspired by her adventure, True Spirit, is released on Netflix, Jessica shares insight into how it compares to the reality of navigating some of the world’s most remote oceans, surviving seven knockdowns and 210 days alone at sea aboard her S&S 34 Ella’s Pink Lady.

“It’s so strange for me. Because I really have no idea what it’s like to watch as someone else who’s not so close to the story. For me, I almost can’t get past being so close to it, and then not really being able to watch it like a movie.

“I love so much of what they’ve done with it. It’s really cool to see the sport of sailing have this showcase, and hopefully, there are a lot of moments in the film that will really make people understand what is so amazing about sailing.”

In terms of accuracy, Jessica adds: “It has moments where it kind of jumps out and I think ‘Oh my gosh, that’s exactly what it was like’, in an expression or view in a sequence or a scene. But of course, there’s movie magic involved as well.

“Some details certainly don’t follow the reality, and sailors will, no doubt, pick them up. The big storm scene where the boat’s underwater for quite some time, in reality wasn’t that dramatic. But in that moment, it certainly felt like it. So maybe it’s sort of true to the feeling behind it.”