Watson wins Australian Geographic award

Round-the-world teenage sailor Jessica Watson has been named the Australian Geographic Society 2010 Young Adventurer Of The Year.

The Queenslander, who became the youngest person to sail solo and unassisted around the world in May, won the award at a ceremony in Sydney on Wednesday night.

The 17-year-old, who was not present to collect the award, expressed her surprise from Cannes, France, where she is carrying out a promotional tour of her book True Spirit.
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"It sure was a big surprise to win this award," Watson said in a statement to AAP.

"It's a great honour and I'd like to thank everyone at Australian Geographic for nominating me."

Watson sailed her 10-metre vessel, Ella's Pink Lady, across more than 20,000 nautical miles of ocean, including around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope, surviving knockdowns, 10m-high waves and winds of up to 70 knots.

Since her triumphant return to Sydney to an audience of tens of thousands of wellwishers, Watson has released her book, starred in a documentary and been named the face of Tourism Queensland's sailing campaign.

The 2010 Adventurer of the Year Award went to Linda Beilharz, the first Australian woman to reach both the North and South Poles by foot.

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was the guest of honour and recognised with an Honorary Lifetime Achievement Award.

smh.com.au