Repairs start on teen sailor's yacht

Teenage sailor Jessica Watson's world-record breaking bid could be back on track
within two weeks after work began on repairing her yacht.

The yacht Ella's Pink Lady was damaged in a collision with the 63,000-tonne Hong
Kong-flagged cargo vessel Silver Yang 15 nautical miles off North Stradbroke
Island's Point Lookout in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The 16-year-old Queensland schoolgirl was heading to Sydney on a test run before
attempting to break the record for the youngest person to sail solo around the
world.
Work began on Thursday at the Gold Coast City Marina to repair the yacht after local
businesses donated equipment and labour.
Inspecting the damage up close for the first time since the accident, Ms Watson said
she was impressed by the strength of the yacht.
"It's a tough boat," she said.
"When it happened people expected me to cave in and give up straight away, but
that's not what this is all about.
"It's all part of the learning experience."
She thanked the marina businesses for their efforts.
Ms Watson said she felt much better after a decent sleep and meals.
The man who supplied the original rigging for the yacht, David Lambourne, has
started work on the yacht.
Asked how the gear looked, he said: "Buggered, mate."
Marina manager Dean Leigh-Smith said the entire repair project would take between 10
days and two weeks.
"After we pull the mast out we will do a full appraisal of the vessel to see how bad
the damage is," he said.
"We'll make sure it's structurally sound and we'll turn it around and get it back in
the water as quick as we can.
"A job like this at any other given time I would say ... is a three to four week
job, but we are hoping to do it in 10 days to two weeks."