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The true story of True Spirit : What really happened on Jessica Watson's solo sail around the world

EW breaks down fact vs. fiction in Netflix's inspiring movie based on the incredible true story of the 16-year-old who attempted to become the youngest person to sail alone around the world.

Sydney Bucksbaum is a writer at Entertainment Weekly covering all things pop culture – but TV is her one true love. She currently lives in Los Angeles but grew up in Chicago so please don't make fun of her accent when it slips out.

Warning: This article contains spoilers about True Spirit, now streaming on Netflix.

True Spirit , Netflix's latest book-to-movie adaptation, is an inspiring tale about Jessica Watson, a teen who endeavors to become the youngest person to sail alone, nonstop, and unassisted around the world. Starring Titan 's Teagan Croft and based on the book of the same name, the film follows her harrowing journey as she attempts to sail 23,000 nautical miles around the globe in 8 months — something no other 16-year-old had ever accomplished before. But what makes it even more amazing is that it actually happened in real life.

Below, EW breaks down the biggest moments from the film and the true story behind them.

Is Jessica Watson a real person?

Yes! Watson exists, and she wrote the book about her own experience circumnavigating the globe upon which the movie is based. "There's so many layers of emotion in it for me," Watson tells EW of watching the film for the first time. "It's amazing, and Teagan's performance is extraordinary. It's me, but it's also something else, which I just love."

After playing half-demon empath Raven on the DC Comics series Titans for years, Croft was excited to finally take on a role closer to home. "Playing Raven on Titans , it's purple hair, very sullen," she says. "And the [ True Spirit ] producers needed to double-check that I wasn't like that in real life, that I'd be able to play Jess. I cracked a couple jokes, made a couple remarks, and they saw I'd be able to pull off perky. It's much more in my wheelhouse. And being able to act in my own accent was something I hadn't had the opportunity to do before. It was nice to have that burden lifted."

Watson and Croft met in person for the first time over dinner before the movie began filming, and they had a conversation with director Sarah Spillane about how the onscreen version of Watson wouldn't just be an imitation. "Then we also went sailing the next day altogether, and we met a few times up after that," Croft says. "It was so weird and awkward at first. I felt a weird guilt, like, 'Hello, I'm playing you.' But she was so lovely about it, and we get on really well now."

Did she really attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world?

She sure did — Watson, now 29, departed from Sydney, Australia,, on Oct. 18, 2009, and returned on May 15, 2010, just before her 17th birthday.

Did she succeed?

Well, it's complicated and depends on who you ask. Watson sailed an estimated 18,582 nautical miles, crossing through the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans, all on her own and without stopping. But ultimately, the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC) ruled that Watson was ineligible for the record, having traveled just short of the minimum 21,600 nautical miles necessary to claim circumnavigation of the globe. In response to the decision and criticism, Watson wrote on her blog at the time, "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time!"

The movie notably doesn't mention the controversy about whether or not she earned the title of the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop, and unassisted around the world. Once she returns to Sydney Harbour amid a massive celebration, the credits roll immediately. "The movie and what Jess is all about is not about the record," Croft says. "That's not what drove her. That's not what she was sailing for. She was sailing for the love of it. The point of the movie is about this girl who had a goal that was crazy and dangerous, and what she did was incredible."

"The thing is, it's a bit of an invented controversy because there actually is no record," Watson tells EW. "There's no 'youngest' record because the body that does official sailing records doesn't recognize youngest records, which is understandable. So I don't really understand how there can be controversy over a record that doesn't exist. The voyage and the way I sailed around the world was very similar to what other people did, but there's actually no official rules, so it's a bit hard to not comply with rules that don't quite exist."

All these years later, Watson isn't concerned about any official records or titles. "It really doesn't worry me because it was about the adventure," she adds. "But also, gosh, people really feel the need to add some drama or find a way to almost diminish it slightly. And I'm like, 'Cool, you guys do that. I'm cool with that.' Maybe I think about it too simplistically, but I'm just like, 'Why are we arguing about the number of nautical miles for a record that doesn't exist?' There is no set nautical miles. You can't argue over a rule that doesn't exist."

Did all the characters in the movie exist?

All except for two — and those two were still based on real people. In the film, Avatar : The Way of the Water 's Cliff Curtis plays her sailing coach Ben, but Watson reveals he was just a "beautiful representation of a few people who otherwise wouldn't have been able to be portrayed," from the crew who helped her repair her boat to the group of people advising her over the phone about the weather during her voyage and more.

Her parents were pretty much exactly as they appear in the movie, played by Anna Paquin and Josh Lawson . "Mum was the one who firstly read me Jesse Martin's book from the get-go, which was what inspired me to do this," Watson says. "She had the same curiosity and inspiration for the voyage as me, whereas dad really didn't believe it was going to happen for much longer. And then, obviously, he was quite reluctant, as you see. That is probably pretty accurate in terms of mom and dad's dynamic."

Croft struggled the most filming the scenes where Jessica talks to her family over the phone during her journey. "At that point, the other actors were gone, and it was just me, so sometimes that was really difficult to get into the scene," she says. "But what was lucky in a twisted way was that COVID was really big in Australia at that time, and so the borders between my home state and the state we were filming in had closed. I'd just come from filming Titans , I hadn't seen my sisters or my dad for seven months by the end of shooting True Spirit , so I was able to pull a real, genuine emotion from my real life from the real phone calls I was having."

Watson adds that the reporter, played by Todd Lasance, was fictional but represents all of the members of the media who were aggressively and publicly criticizing her plans. "There were some that were pretty damn similar to him," she adds with a laugh. "I was protected slightly from some of the intensity of it at the time because I was just so single-mindedly focused on this thing, which you need to be to do something like that. It was my team and my poor family who caught the worst of that, but it was intense."

She continues, "I can really understand where people were coming from, and it's kind of beautiful that there was so much concern. But at the same time, I don't think people really understood that there had been years and years of preparation. And this is a really safe boat, it's done this a number of times. It's not as crazy as it seems if you've got no idea about that world."

Did her pre-voyage trial run really end in a massive collision?

Unfortunately, yes. Watson forgot to turn on the proximity alarms before taking a quick nap, and a few minutes later, her boat (named Ella's Pink Lady), crashed into a cargo ship. "That collision scene's one of the ones that's really accurate, so that one's pretty intense for me," Watson says. "That was something I still have the occasional nightmare about, but it's so important to the story. It really made me in a way because having to go through that and find the strength to continue really set me up for being able to deal with the storms at sea."

Did she really leave her hairbrush at home?

In a moment of levity in the movie, Jessica realizes she forgot to pack a hairbrush for her long journey and tapes two forks together to detangle her hair for months. That did happen ... but not on her long trip around the world. "That happened on a sea trial," Watson admits. "So not quite the whole voyage. And actually, I got the idea from Jesse Martin who did forget his hairbrush for his trip and used a fork."

Did she battle dyslexia during her journey?

Watson is dyslexic in real life, and she loves how the movie accurately portrays the struggles she faced whenever she got stressed and messed up her longitude and latitude coordinates. "So many people can relate to this, and it's not far off from my reality," Watson says, before admitting with a laugh, "I mean, I like to think that I was never that bad with my lats and longs and getting muddled up. But at the same time, it's also based on the truth that mum did used to call me out when I'm tired or flustered, and I was getting stuff like that wrong."

Did she get knocked out during a storm?

In the first big storm she faces at sea, Jessica is hit in the head with a frying pan and gets knocked out. But it turns out that entire scene was made up for the movie. "I feel bad calling out some of the things that weren't quite true, but no, no frying pan," Watson says. "Although there was legitimate danger with stuff flying around inside the boat in a storm — household everyday objects become deadly. Keeping your cabin tidy is something I should have been better at."

Did her boat get stuck for a week without any wind?

In the movie, Jessica hits an emotional low point when there's no breeze for an entire week. She gets frustrated and ends up arguing with Ben over the radio. That was all fictionalized for the film but was based on real emotions Watson felt throughout her trip. "In reality, you never get such long stretches without wind," she says. "Often, it's more like a couple of days. And even within that, you might get a few puffs along the way. It is, however, very true to what that experience is like for a sailor, how incredibly frustrating it is to just be at the mercy of the elements and just waiting for the wind to come back. There's nothing you can do. Emotionally, they were some of the really tough days out there."

Did a massive storm temporarily sink her boat?

Onscreen, Jessica's journey ends with her biggest test yet, as multiple major storms merged into one. The giant waves flip her boat upside down, and she gets stuck 15 ft. underwater for an extended period of time. It's a terrifying scene, and it turns out, the movie version isn't even the full story.

"There were seven knockdowns," Watson reveals. "Not all of them were quite that bad. A lot of the time, it's just the boat being knocked over. But the 15 ft. underwater is real because my emergency beacon did self-activate as the boat sank. That happened. But the time I was upside down for, it certainly felt like a long time. I haven't really got a concept of how long it was in reality, but we are talking seconds compared to what we see in the movie, which stretches on forever in minutes and minutes and minutes. That's a little bit of an exaggeration there, but it was real to the experience of it feeling like forever."

Was her return to Sydney as epic as it appeared?

Absolutely! When Jessica arrives in Sydney Harbour at the end of her journey, it looks like all of Australia came to celebrate her accomplishment. And as the credits roll, real footage from that moment plays, showing the real Watson reuniting with her family. Incredibly, a young Croft was there in attendance that day.

"I was actually there in Sydney Harbour when she came in, but I'd forgotten since I was only six," Croft says. "When I came across this script, my parents were like, 'We were there!' I've been trying to figure out where we were in the crowd to see if you can see me in that footage. Maybe I'm there in a little pink skirt or something ridiculous."

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Jessica Watson's historic solo sail hits the screen in Netflix's True Spirit

In 2010, Jessica Watson became the youngest person to sail around the world solo, non-stop and unassisted.

At just 16, the Queensland schoolgirl spent 210 days at sea battling six-metre swells before pulling into Sydney Harbour where she was met by thousands of supporters and hailed an Australian hero by then-prime minister Kevin Rudd.

One of those cheering fans was a then six-year-old Teagan Croft, who would go on to play the teenage sailor in Netflix's new film about Watson’s remarkable journey.

'It's all still so vivid and real'

Directed by Sarah Spillane and based on Watson's 2010 memoir of the same name, True Spirit charts Watson's journey around the globe, including the media backlash she received and worldwide attention her pursuit attracted.

Now 18, Australian actress Teagan Croft (HBO's Titans) stars as Watson, with Academy Award winner Anna Paquin (True Blood) and Australian actor Josh Lawson (Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story) playing her parents who come under fire for letting their teenage daughter hit the high seas by herself.

Watson, now 29, told ABC News it was surreal to look back on her historic achievement as an adult.

"It's odd, right? It's weird. I'm a completely different person. So much has happened and so much time has passed," she said.

"At the same time, it's all still so vivid and real. So it feels like a million years ago, but also yesterday at the same time."

Croft's audition was the first director Sarah Spillane watched in her search for a lead. And the filmmaker says she set a "high benchmark" that was never matched.

While Croft was already familiar with Watson's story and experienced that historic moment at Sydney Harbour herself, she said the filming process gave her a greater understanding of how challenging the voyage was.

"Being reintroduced to it and learning so much, just all of the details about how big the waves were and how intense the backlash was to begin with – there's just so much about the story I didn't know that just makes it all the more impressive and inspiring," Croft said.

"What I've always loved about Jessica's journey is that she's not the youngest girl to be a solo sailor. She is the youngest solo sailor. It's not a gendered thing.

"I think that's what's so unique, that it's just such an inspirational story.

"And yes, it's led by a woman and a young woman, but it's inspirational, no matter her age, no matter her gender. And I think that is what is most powerful."

'Just make it authentic'

With Elvis and Blonde bagging Oscar nominations ,  biopics are big business in Hollywood , but Croft says imitating Watson completely was never the goal.

"What was really nice is we had a big sit-down meal — Sarah, Jess and I — right before filming began, and we had a big chat about how we wanted to create a character from the ground up, heavily inspired by Jess but not a mimic of her," she said.

"And Jess was so great about saying, 'Don't worry about all the details and minutiae. Just make it real and make it authentic.'"

Spillane said Watson was "very open and had a great understanding of the filmmaking process in the sense that she was very flexible".

"This is based on her true story," Spillane said.

"The journey itself is very true to what she did.

"But certain character aspects, such as her mentor, are fictitious and are based on several advisers that Jessica worked with and, to be honest, my own mentor Jack Thompson."

Just like Watson's solo navigation, much of True Spirit is scenes of Croft alone on her boat as she attempts to weather not just storms, but total isolation, which is only made worse when there's no wind and she's stranded at sea for days at a time.

Spillane has known Watson personally since 2014, when she began her research for True Spirit. She said the film's release came at an "interesting" time.

"We've just come out of COVID," she said.

"I think a lot of people can really resonate with some of the themes … such as this sense of isolation that Jessica endured during her journey.

"Especially for a young person and how one not necessarily overcomes but deals with loneliness and isolation and being somewhat disconnected from the rest of the world."

Watson's story goes global — again

True Spirit is now screening in theatres, but it will reach a much greater audience next week when it begins streaming on Netflix.

"They are releasing this to 190 countries in over 30 languages at the same time. That's something that just wouldn't have happened before the existence of companies like Netflix," Spillane says.

"So many people around the world can access this story, which is very true to when Jessica did make this trip and accomplish this incredible circumnavigation.

"It did attract the attention of people throughout the world because there is something profoundly universal and global about what she did that I think anyone can relate to."

It is a sentiment echoed by Croft.

"I think that there's so much rich Australian history that we don't really tell as much, and I think we're starting to and I think that's really fun," she said.

'I'm actually not quite sure what to think or feel about it'

For Croft, she's keen to tackle more biopics and name-checks Dolly Parton ("I do a cracker impression"), but Watson waves off the idea of giving her solo voyage another go.

"You can't beat your own youngest record," she said.

"But it actually has had quite an impact on me in a way that I really didn't expect."

In 2021, Watson's partner of 10 years, Cameron Dale, died six weeks after suffering a catastrophic stroke .

"Hearing Teagan [Croft] say these things about how the world's really tough, but it's also really beautiful, and seeing that play out and talking about how you can be really vulnerable but also really strong is really unnerving and quite incredible for me, currently, and quite inspiring," Watson said. 

"It's kind of strange, and I'm actually not quite sure what to think or feel about it. But it definitely is kind of making me go, 'Wow,' and sort of almost be a bit re-inspired."

Watson is still modest about her achievements and having the story of her life hit the big screen.

"It really is absolutely extraordinary," she said. "I mean, this stuff, I don't think it's going to happen again for me, that's for sure."

"It could happen to you again," Croft said.

"Who knows what you're going to do."

True Spirit is in cinemas now and is available to stream on Netflix from February 3.

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Jessica Watson: the true story of True Spirit star’s voyage

• Helen Fretter
• March 3, 2023

Jessica Watson talks to Helen Fretter about what her round the world journey was really like and how accurate the Netflix film True Spirit is

In the late Noughties and early 2010s, sailing garnered astonishing levels of attention due to a series of teenagers bidding to become the youngest sailor to sail around the world. One of the most high profile was Jessica Watson, who set off from Sydney in 2009 aged 16, and completed her loop of Antarctica – and a dip north across the Equator in the Pacific – to return an all-Australian hero after 210 days at sea .

It was a remarkable story, much of which was told in real time in Watson’s blog and video diaries. Thirteen years on, Netflix has made a feature-length sailing film based on her voyage, called True Spirit . Following the film’s release in the UK, we spoke to Watson about the experience.

True Spirit is available to watch on Netflix worldwide

Jessica Watson in the spotlight

In the film version of True Spirit viewers are introduced to the teenage Jessica Watson aboard her S&S 34 Ella’s Pink Lady on a trial solo sail, when a violent collision with a 63,000 tonne cargo ship off Queensland leaves the yacht dismasted, and both Watson and her family ashore shaken.

It’s the same opening scene Watson begins her autobiography with, and it’s as shocking to watch as it is to read her written account: “I grabbed at the tiller, flicked off the autopilot and tried to steer us. It was hopeless.

“There was nowhere to go, nothing I could do. Shuddering and screeching, we were being swept down the ship’s hull. A glance told me that the ship’s stern, with its bridges protruding, was fast approaching. The noises were getting louder and, knowing that the mast and rigging were about to come down, I rushed back below hoping for some protection.

“The cupboard next to me ripped apart as the chainplate behind the bulkhead splintered it into a million pieces. The boat heeled to one side then suddenly sprung upright with the loudest explosion yet as the entangled rigging suddenly freed itself and crashed to the deck.”

While the collision would be a terrifying experience for anyone to go through, let alone a teenager on their own, the film highlights how the media storm that met her ashore was even more intimidating. Many commentators questioned the judgement of Watson’s parents, an additional pressure which the film captures neatly.

Watson, now 30, admits that the prospect of being the centre of attention once again with the film’s launch didn’t entirely fill her with joy. “I certainly went into this with mixed emotions. I enjoy my life, I like not being recognised very often, and so there was a bit of trepidation. But at the same time, I’m just so grateful and hopefully this is good for sailing.”

An ethical dilemma

The teen solo sailor trend was a remarkable phenomenon. Australian Jesse Martin was one of the earliest, when he completed a non-stop, unassisted solo around the world voyage to and from Melbourne in 1999 aged 18. Martin recounted the trip in his S&S 34 Lionheart, also the title of his book, which was a major influence and source of inspiration for Watson.

With increasing unease and debate on the ethics of encouraging young teens to take on such potentially dangerous challenges, both within the sport of sailing and across newspaper columns and chat-show sofas around the world, the World Sailing Speed Record Council discontinued recognition of its ‘youngest’ sailor category. Martin has since remained the perpetual record holder, despite the flurry of much younger skippers which followed.

Jessica Watson (right) with actor Teagan Croft who played her in the film adaptation. Photo: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

Much of the debate ignored the fact that the teenagers were often extraordinarily experienced yachtsmen from remarkable families. Certainly that was the case for Dutch sailor Laura Dekker , as well as American brother and sister Zac and Abby Sunderland, who both attempted circumnavigations (Zac successfully, Abby’s Open 40 was dismasted).

Jessica Watson also had a fairly nomadic childhood with years spent living on boats or converted buses. Ironically, her father had a television hire company but the Watson family never owned one, as she recalled in her autobiography: “I think Dad saw how dependent people became on them and how they restricted the lives of their owners – keeping them inside and inactive – and he decided he didn’t ever want to be like that.”

The Watson family’s unconventionality gets a little lost in the film, so keen were directors and scriptwriters to make them relatable, and show the toll Jessica’s attempt took as an emotional undercurrent tugging throughout the film. For Jessica herself, however, the family storyline was a powerful one to watch.

“Seeing the emotional experience that [my family] went through is pretty intense. I think I’ve appreciated it better in the years since, particularly when other sailors I knew have been in trouble at sea and I’ve had to sit on shore. It’s far worse waiting for news, I would rather be out there in the thick of it. So it is really a reminder of the one extraordinary thing they did by reluctantly letting me go.”

Other figures who had a huge part in Watson’s story – including Golden Globe Race organiser Don McIntyre, who secured her S&S 34 – are blended into one single character who becomes her mentor, shore team, and sounding board.

Some scenes in True Spirit have been dramatised. Photo: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

How close to reality is True Spirit film?

While it’s gratifying to see sailing in a mainstream family film , sailing hasn’t always succeeded on the silver screen and there are elements of True Spirit which will rankle. It’s something Jessica Watson is well aware of.

“Of course, as sailors there’s parts of the movie which will be a little bit maddening for us.

“I was never relaxed about the details. I always wanted the details to be right where possible. So I have mixed feelings [about some of it]. But there’s so much I love about it too, that it showcases how beautiful it is, how special it is [to be at sea], and there’s nothing better than a little S&S sailing along for me.

Scene from the Netflix film of Watson’s solo circumnavigation. Photo: Images: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy

“It was a case of spending a lot of time with the director and the cast, talking about the inspiration behind it and helping them understand that world. And then I had to step away when it came to shooting some of the details and left them to do that.”

There is one scene – a knockdown which Watson did experience in real life – that involves a degree of suspension of disbelief. “That massive wave did happen in the Atlantic, but it probably didn’t happen quite that dramatically,” Watson says. “Though they did capture the essence of the feeling that time does stand still when you’re upside down in a knockdown.”

Watson arriving back in Sydney Harbour to a hero’s welcome in 2010. Photo: Reuters/Alamy

There are other moments where dramatic licence takes over, including one where Watson is nearly swept overboard through the lifelines. The reality was rather more boring. “I had a furling headsail and then a staysail on an inner forestay, where the storm jib went as well. That all worked incredibly well. As the weather picked up, I was able to just furl the headsail away and have the storm sail ready to go,” she explains, “Something I’m quite proud of is I that I never went on the foredeck – in fact I never left the cockpit – in over 30 knots of wind.

“Sure, I maybe sacrificed a little bit of speed, but that was part of the really conservative way that I was sailing. I could put my fourth reef in from the cockpit, but very often approaching really bad conditions I’d have the mainsail stitched and away.”

Unsurprisingly there’s little in the movie to show more mundane tasks, such as waiting for GRIB files to download. In fact, Jessica Watson was very well supported for weather routing by New Zealand meteorologist Bob McDavitt, who sent multiple daily updates which Watson would overlay with her own weather charts.

Jessica Watson and Ella’s Pink Lady cross the finish line for her unassisted solo circumnavigation. Photo: Christophe Launay/DPPI Media/Alamy

While routing has always been accepted for solo record attempts, with no official governing body to answer to, the question of what counted as ‘unassisted’ for youth sailors was open to interpretation. In 2007 British teenager Michael Perham became the youngest person to solo sail across the Atlantic aged just 14, while his father shadowed him sailing in a separate yacht.

For Watson, there was controversy whether her 23,000-mile route ventured far enough north of the Equator to count as a true around-the-world. “It certainly doesn’t worry me,” says Watson. “The biggest thing for me is that there’s no official record, as none of the bodies recognise the youngest records, which is perfectly understandable. So I don’t understand how there can be a debate about whether or not you comply with a rule that doesn’t exist.

“The route I took, chosen with my team, was about making it as safe as possible. It put me in the right oceans at the right times, and it did the things that are generally recognised as sailing around the world . I’m very at peace with that.”

The next Jessica Watson?

While Watson was inspired by reading about Jesse Martin’s adventures, would she welcome new young sailors inspired to tackle a circumnavigation after watching True Spirit ? “Absolutely, if people are serious,” she says.

Such a project is, however, very reliant on having the right yacht. “People do ask me if I would do it again, and my answer is only if the boat was exactly the same and I had the same support crew, otherwise it’s a resounding ‘No!’.

“It was absolutely that boat and how she was set up that enabled it to be possible. Someone said almost as a criticism, ‘lt was just the boat that got her there.’ But I agree with them.

“The S&S 34 is just such a gorgeous little boat. There’s nothing quite like the way that they sail beautifully upwind in a bit of a blow.”

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True Spirit

The story of Australian teenager, Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo nonstop around the world. The story of Australian teenager, Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo nonstop around the world. The story of Australian teenager, Jessica Watson, the youngest person ever to sail solo nonstop around the world.

• Sarah Spillane
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• Alyla Browne
• Teagan Croft
• Cliff Curtis
• 58 User reviews
• 37 Critic reviews
• 50 Metascore
• 2 nominations

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• Emily Watson

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• Trivia Jessica Watson was allowed to keep the replica of her boat used for filming after production had completed.
• Goofs In the movie in rough weather Jessica is seen strapped to the bunk . Yachts do not use this system, they all use lee cloths . Which you see on the real boat at the end of the movie with real footage from the boat . Hint its red.

Jessica Watson : There's strength in being yourself. You know, I think... that's as hard as climbing any mountain. You know, I think there's bravery in admitting that you're not okay.

• Soundtracks Walking on a Dream Written by Luke Steele , Jonathan Sloan and Nick Littlemore (as Nicholas Littlemore) Performed by Empire of the Sun Courtesy of EMI Music Australia Pty Ltd/Astralwerks Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

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• Feb 23, 2023
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• February 3, 2023 (United States)
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• Runtime 1 hour 49 minutes
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True Spirit, an Interview with Jessica Watson

By: Zeke Quezada, ASA Movies , women on the water

True Spirit , available only on Netflix, on February 3, 2023, captures the essence of sailing from the exhilarating sailing sequences to the abysmal loneliness to the harrowing storms. Reacquaint yourself with the story that captured the world’s attention when a teenager decided to attempt to become the youngest sailor to sail non-stop around the globe. You will feel the wind in your face, your palms will sweat when the storms roll in and spoiler alert, you might cry a little as well.

Jessica Watson sat down with American Sailing to discuss sailing, her adventure and True Spirit the film about her sailing expedition to be the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted. True Spirt is only available on Netflix on February 3, 2023.

Jessica Watson: I certainly didn’t step off Ella’s Pink Lady and feel I’d had enough of sailing, if anything my love for it has grown tenfold. Although it is also something I’ve taken increasingly less seriously and I’m no great racing sailor. Since the voyage around the world I went on to other sailing challenges like skippering the youngest crew to compete in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart and in more recent years have enjoyed messing about in dinghy’s, a trailer

ABOUT THE FILM

True Spirit

Netflix Release Date | February 3, 2023

Synopsis | When the tenacious young sailor Jessica Watson (Teagan Croft) sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world, many expect her to fail. With the support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant (Cliff Curtis) and her parents (Josh Lawson and Academy Award winner Anna Paquin), Jessica is determined to accomplish what was thought to be impossible, navigating some of the world’s most challenging stretches of ocean over the course of 210 days.

True Spirit is directed by Sarah Spillane, written by Sarah Spillane, Rebecca Banner and Cathy Randall with Debra Martin Chase, Susan Cartsonis and Andrew Fraser serving as producers. Bridget Webb, Vivien Turner, Stacy Clausen and Todd Lasance also co-star in this incredible true story of perseverance and human accomplishment that shows that you are only as big as the dreams you dare to live.

Director | Sarah Spillane

Writers | Sarah Spillane, Rebecca Banner, Cathy Randall

Based On the book by Jessica Watson

Producers | Debra Martin Chase, Susan Cartsonis, Andrew Fraser

Cast | Teagan Croft, Cliff Curtis, Bridget Webb, Vivien Turner, Stacy Clausen, Todd Lasance, with Josh Lawson and Anna Paquin

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16-year-old Jessica Watson Documentary Segment | 60 Minutes

Jessica Watson: Where is the Sailor Now?

Netflix’s ‘ True Spirit ‘ is an adventure drama biopic that follows teenage sailor Jesse Watson’s journey around the globe as she attempts to set a world record at 16. The movie is based on the real-life sailor Jessica Watson, who became the youngest sailor to complete a solo, unassisted global circumnavigation between October 2009 and May 2010. Though her voyage was hurdled with dangerous challenges, she eventually completed it in 210 days, becoming an inspiration for millions worldwide. Now, if you’re wondering about Jessica’s adventures after she circled the world and what she’s up to nowadays, here’s what we found!

Who is Jessica Watson?

Born on May 18, 1993, in Gold Coast, Australia, Jessica Watson developed a passion for exploration and adventure at a young age. Apart from taking sailing lessons with her three siblings , she also lived with her family aboard a 16-meter cabin cruiser for five years. Furthermore, the Watsons temporarily lived on a purpose-built double-decker bus. However, the idea of sailing the world alone came to Jessica at 11, when her mother read to her German-Australian sailor Jesse Martin’s book, ‘Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit.’

When Jessica turned 12, she became determined to become the youngest sailor to circle the world alone. Despite her father’s apprehensions, she trained hard for the next few years and officially announced her plans in 2009. Sadly, most people and the media reacted quite skeptically to Jessica’s mission, wondering how she would pull off a grueling non-stop journey of about 23 000 nautical miles without any help or significant experience.

The negativity toward the teenager’s campaign further increased when her boat, Ella’s Pink Lady , collided with a massive bulk carrier during a test run in September 2009. But regardless of this minor debacle and all the discouragement Jessica faced, she took assistance from her mentors to repair the boat and prepared to set sail. On October 18, 2009, Ella’s Pink Lady departed the Sydney Harbor, gradually charting the waters of the Pacific Ocean and passing New Zealand and Fiji.

In November of the same year, Jessica crossed The Equator, followed by the Kiritimati, and by January 2010, she passed Cape Horn. Unfortunately, she soon faced a severe storm and four knockdowns, but with her grit and determination, she overcame the challenge and proceeded to cross the halfway point of her journey a week later. The following month, she crossed the Prime Meridian, the Cape of Good Hope, and Cape Agulhas before commencing her return toward Western Australia.

After crossing Cape Leeuwin in April 2010, Jessica faced terrible weather and suffered at least three knockdowns, one of which temporarily pushed her boat’s mast deep into the sea. Luckily, she escaped without severe damage or injury and continued her voyage’s last leg. Jessica returned to Sydney on May 15, 2010, after 210 days at sea, just three days before her 17th birthday.

The teenage sailor’s wondrous journey earned her global acclaim and numerous accolades, including the Spirit of Sport award from the Sport Australia Hall of Fame, an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours List in 2012, and being named the Young Australian of the Year in 2011. Jessica was also the only sailor selected for “2010 Adventurers of the Year” by the National Geographic Society.

Jessica Watson is Living a Life Surrounded by Family Today

Following her global voyage, Jessica Watson participated in several prestigious yacht races in Australia, such as the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in December 2011. Aged 18, she was the youngest competitor and won the Jane Tate Award for the first female skipper, with her team coming in second. The same year, Jessica was appointed as a Youth Representative for the United Nations World Food Programme, under which she traveled to remote Laos and refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jessica Watson (@jessicawatson_93)

After completing her Diploma of Project Management from the Australian Institute of Management, Jessica completed her Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communication with a distinction in 2016. A year later, she received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Australian Institute of Management. In 2015, Jessica co-founded Deckee, a boating app for maps and weather reports, and worked as the Communications Manager till December 2017.

The talented sailor joined Deloitte as a Consultant in 2018 and is currently working as a Corporate Speaker and a Human Capital Management Consultant with the company. Interestingly, Jessica struggled with dyslexia early on, yet she has still authored two novels. This includes ‘True Spirit: The Aussie Girl Who Took on the World,’ which details her global circumnavigation adventure, and ‘Indigo Blue,’ an adventure fiction novel for young adults. In 2022, Jessica was inducted into the Australian Sailing Hall of Fame.

On the personal front, Jessica faced a heartbreaking tragedy in August 2021 when her long-term partner, Cameron Dale , died from a sudden stroke. The couple had met in 2010 at the Sydney to Hobart race and had been together ever since. Jessica struggled a lot while coping with Cameron’s loss, and to deal with her profound grief, she turned to their shared love: sailing.

Now 29, she resides in Melbourne, Australia, and has built a successful life surrounded by family and friends. Jessica assisted the Netflix movie team at every step of the production process and hopes her story helps young people believe they can achieve anything. In addition to the biopic, she was featured in a documentary named ‘210 Days.’

Read More:  Roger and Julie Watson: Where are Jessica Watson’s Parents Now?

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Thousands welcome teen sailor home after 7-month journey.

• Girl, 16, completes solo sail around the world
• Jessica Watson spent 210 days at sea
• PM calls her 'our newest Australian hero'
• Controversy exists over whether she sailed far enough to claim youngest to make trip

(CNN) -- Sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson has spent the past seven months in a self-imposed solitary confinement of sorts.

For 210 days, the avid sailor skippered her 34-foot yacht, the Pink Lady, around the world, a feat few others, let alone teenagers, have accomplished.

But on Saturday afternoon, her solo trip ended in dramatic fashion as tens of thousands of cheering spectators and hundreds of boats turned out to welcome her home to Australia's Sydney Harbor, according to CNN affiliate Nine News.

"I haven't seen a person for almost seven months and suddenly there's just people everywhere -- you know, faces, so much color, so much noise, so much everything," she told a news conference. "All I've seen for so long is empty waves, so it was amazing and very overwhelming. At the same time, I achieved what I set out to."

That achievement -- her team claims she's the youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world -- is not without controversy .

A storm over whether she'd bested Jesse Martin, a fellow Australian recognized in 1999 as the youngest to make the voyage at 18, came to a head on sailing news websites last week, centering not on her age -- nor on whether she went around the world -- but on whether she had sailed far enough.

Sailing websites such as Sail-World.com reported last week that Watson's route wasn't long enough orthodromically -- that is, by measuring the shortest distance from point to point on a route -- to hit 21,600 nautical miles, the length of the equator.

Watson's team has said she had sailed about 23,000 nautical miles, though it hasn't claimed the distance is orthodromic. Critics have said her logged distance includes zig-zags that yachts inevitably make, and those zig-zags do not count for orthodromic distance.

The World Sailing Speed Record Council, which certified in 1999 that Martin was the youngest to make the trip, mandates 21,600 orthodromic nautical miles for round-the-world courses. Watson's team has responded that it wasn't aiming for any WSSRC record, because the council has stopped recognizing the "youngest" category.

Read more about the controversy

Those who turned out to witness her arrival Saturday at Sydney's Opera House weren't fazed by the dispute.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called her "our newest Australian hero" minutes after she stepped off her pink-hulled sailboat and onto the pink carpet that well-wishers had rolled out for her, her legs still wobbly after so long at sea.

And before she could pull up to the wharf, her vessel was practically swamped by hundreds of other boats in the harbor -- all admirers wanting to participate in the momentous day.

Watson also shrugged off the controversy.

"It's not something that worries me because there always have been and there always will be some people who choose to not acknowledge the record, and for me it wasn't ever actually about the record, so I'm not worried at all," she said.

Official record or not, her accomplishment is noteworthy. During the course of her journey, she battled 40-foot waves and six knockdowns, including one that knocked her yacht over to the point where her mast hit water.

Her round-trip odyssey started in Sydney on October 18. She spent the better part of the year traveling northeast through the South Pacific and across the equator, south to Cape Horn at the tip of South America, across the Atlantic Ocean to South Africa, through the Indian Ocean and around Southern Australia .

But Watson was modest as she addressed spectators Saturday, taking issue with Rudd's use of the word hero in describing her.

"I'm an ordinary girl who believed in her dream," she said.

CNN's Jason Hanna contributed to this report.

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Schoolgirl Jessica Watson due home after solo round-the-world sail

A crowd of thousands will line the quayside while hundreds of boats will form a "nautical red carpet". The celebrations in Sydney on Saturday promise to rival those of its spectacular new year displays as Australia welcomes home Jessica Watson, at 16 the youngest sailor ever to circumnavigate the globe single-handed.

Or is she? As the Queensland teenager's yacht, Ella's Pink Lady, sails into Sydney harbour after an epic seven-month voyage, the TV helicopters hovering above will not be the only thing clouding blue skies. Controversy hangs in the air.

Experienced old salts have queried whether Watson, who arrives back three days shy of her 17th birthday, has sailed far enough, claiming her route falls some 2000 nautical miles short of a true circumnavigation according to the rules set by the global authority, the World Sailing Speed Record Council. She didn't travel far enough north of the equator, they have calculated.

So she has failed, they declare, in her stated aim to beat the 1999 record of fellow Aussie Jesse Martin, which he set over 328 days at the age of 18.

It's a moot point. Following the furore over allowing ever younger sailors to undertake such a risky endeavour, sparked when the Dutch courts intervened last year to prevent Laura Dekker, 13, from setting sail solo, the WSSRC no longer recognises the category of "the youngest".

So Watson will claim no record. But at stake are the millions she could, potentially, earn as a result of her highly-publicised venture. One of Rupert Murdoch's Australian papers has bought her exclusive story for a reported A$700,000 (£430,000), and a TV station has exclusive live rights. Watson, who has been sailing since she was eight, will step off her yacht and into a whirlwind nationwide "Meet Jessica" tour. A book is due out in July.

Meanwhile her website is doing brisk trade in baseball hats, wall charts and other sailing paraphernalia. It boasts 14 major sponsors, and the apple growers Pink Lady Australian hope she will become the company's poster girl.

According to navigation experts at the respected Sail-world.com magazine, Watson will have travelled 18,265 nautical miles, but a valid circumnavigation requires 21,600.

That is not to detract from her otherwise remarkable achievement and raw guts, the magazine said.

But it added that, though her log may show she has travelled 23,000 nautical miles, as claimed by her PR team, this includes "tacking and gybing", and not the straight line distances required.

Their claims have led to ill-tempered exchanges with Watson's PR manager Andrew Fraser, and criticism from the many Watson supporters gripped by her journey.

"We are not really interested in the technical concerns of a minority," wrote Fraser in an email to Sail-world.com. "The rising tide of her supporters is a millions multiple of the minority." As the council wouldn't be recognising her record anyway, her team argue, she does not need to adhere to their rules. And by their calculation, she has met all the requirements. Watson has brushed off the controversy. "Call me immature but I've actually been having a bit of a giggle over the whole thing," she wrote on her blog . "If I haven't been sailing around the world, then it beats me what I've been doing out here all this time."

Critics say they do not blame Watson but rather her PR team for the ambiguity over the world record status. Sail-world.com points out that Watson's website had originally stated she had "set her sights on beating Jesse's record", but have now replaced the world "record" with "achievement".

Unofficial polls meantime show that 75% of Australians believe she is a record breaker – whatever the rules.

Watson sailed out under a cloud. She collided with a coal freighter during a test sail, leading to claims she was inexperienced. Critics say her feat could set a bad example and encourage even younger children, and her parents were decried for encouraging her.

But waiting for her on the quayside will be her British friend and fellow sailor Mike Perham, who last year became the youngest to sail around the world, aged 17. Jesse Martin will also be there – with his record still, seemingly, intact.

Extracts from Jessica Watson's blog

24 April 2010 Despite the fact that today started with a knockdown, a wet bunk, a headache and some pretty huge seas, I've had a great day.

8 April 2010 Some bad news today … the handle has fallen off my only kettle.

22 Nov 2009 I've finally got a fish … I can't say there would be many fishermen who would be proud of the mess I made of filleting it.

17 Nov 2009 Let me introduce you to "Silly". He's a little brown seabird. Silly earned his nickname because of his fascination with the wind generator and his amusing attempts to land on the bendy windvane blade.

12 Nov 2009 I was told this was the most watched blog in Australia and stage fright has left me a bit speechless.

2 Nov 2009 After completing the first English assignment I sent it off to discover I'd opened the wrong bag and have been working on next year's assignments, oops!

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First 'True Spirit' Images Show Jessica Watson's Harrowing Journey

The Netflix movie is based on a true story and stars Anna Paquin, Teagan Croft, and Cliff Curtis.

Netflix has just released new images from True Spirit , an upcoming film that tells one girl's story of grit and survival on the open sea. The film will premiere on Netflix on February 3, 2023.

True Spirit tells the story of sailor Jessica Watson, played by Teagan Croft , who sets out to be the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop, and completely unassisted around the world. With such a big goal, many expect the ambitious young sailor to fail. However, with the unflagging support of her sailing coach and mentor Ben Bryant, played by Cliff Curtis ( Avatar: The Way of Water ), and her parents, played by Josh Lawson, and Academy Award-winning actress Anna Paquin , Jessica will do what was previously thought to be impossible. And Jessica will navigate some of the world’s roughest waters over the course of 210 grueling days.

The film is based on the true story of Jessica Watson , an Australian sailor who made her epic journey across the world in 2009. In 2010, Watson released the book True Spirit , which documented her trek. The new images, released today, give us a look at Jessica's amazing journey across the world. One image shows her sitting on her boat, using a walkie-talkie to communicate with her team. In the background is a long stretch of ocean. Another image shows Jessica clinging to her pink boat in the middle of a storm, showing the roughest part of her monumental journey.

‘Deadpool 3’: Director Shawn Levy Promises It Will Remain Gritty and Raw in the MCU [Exclusive]

Other images include still from scenes with Jessica and her family as they prepare for her solo trip, and a shot of the film's director, Sarah Spillane , and the film's star Teagan Croft holding a movie slate with the film's title on the front. The new images give us our first glimpse into the thrilling real-life story that will serve to show the power of perseverance in the face of adversity.

True Spirit is directed by Sarah Spillane. The film was written by Spillane, Rebecca Banner , and Cathy Randall . The film is produced by Debra Martin Chase , Susan Cartsonis , and Andrew Fraser . Along with Croft, Curtis, Lawson, and Paquin, the film also stars Bridget Webb , Vivien Turner , Stacy Clausen , and Todd Lasance .

True Spirit will be released to Netflix on February 3, 2023. You can check out all of the photos below:

Matador Original Series

Jessica Watson, 16, Youngest Person to Sail Around the World Solo

All photos courtesy of Jessica Watson

In 1999 , fellow Australian Jesse Martin successfully completed a solo sailing trip around the planet. In doing so he became the youngest ever to circumnavigate the globe unassisted. This September, 16-year-old Jessica Watson sets off with a goal that might take that distinction away from him.

Dreaming about this since age 11

If you read comments left by readers of articles written about Jessica you’d think this was a controversial event. Her parents are getting attacked; people are questioning their decision to let her attempt this. Julie Watson, Jessica’s mum, has this response:

“A lot of people say `how ridiculous, she is 15′. But I would say if they had a daughter like mine they would let her go. She instills confidence in you.”

There’s no question she’s not your average teenager. She’s been sailing and racing dinghies since she was eight and has been dreaming about the solo trip since age 11. Fueling her fire are other inspiring sailors like Kay Cottee — the first woman solo-sailor around the world — and Jesse Martin.

To prepare herself mentally for the epic voyage, she’s reading books by people who’ve done this and how they coped. In addition, she’s talking to a sports psychologist and will also have access to the Internet and a webcam. She admits these technological advances might make it a bit easier for herself compared to previous sailors.

As far as physical preparations go, she says she’s “learning a lot about the word compromise ; everything’s a compromise, weight and performance versus comfort, power and communication.”

Ending up where she started

Making sure to follow the rules of a true circumnavigation, Jessica’s route has her starting in Brisbane, then sailing northeast across the equator to Washington Island in the North Pacific, around Cape Horn below South Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, across the Indian Ocean and finally up the east coast of Australia back to Brisbane. This plan covers around 23,000 nautical miles and will take approximately 230 days.

Her choice of transport is the S&S 34, a 34-foot yacht made famous by Jon Sanders, David Dicks and Jesse Martin after their history-making solo circumnavigations.

A few words with Jessica

Recently, Jessica was kind enough to take a few minutes out of her ridiculously busy schedule to chat with me over the phone and answer a few questions for our Matador readers:

Q. Many young travelers have a hard time convincing mom and dad to let them go on their first big trip, especially by themselves. When you decided that you wanted to try to break the record, how did your parents react when you first told them?

Yeah, mum and I had a laugh at this question. It definitely took some time. My mum came on board when she saw how determined I was and my dad only came on board quite recently, when he saw how much support we were receiving, and how determined we all were.

Q. Do you have any tips on the young travelers out there trying to get their parents’ blessings?

That they do anything possible to show them how determined, and how perfect and organized you’re going to make it.

Q. Can you describe the feeling you get when you’re out in the water?

It’s definitely something special. Yesterday I skippered the boat for the first time by myself. It was only a couple hours and was only motoring, but it is something very special…when you’re by yourself everything is more exciting. You see it in a different way, I suppose. It’s really cool.

Q. There must be a lot of things that are out of your control when you’re at sea. How do you handle that?

I never used to be very confident, I suppose, and when everything’s out of your control and you don’t know what you’re doing, when you’re not confident, then it’s scary. So, you do absolutely everything that you can and then you rely on the boat looking after you, and if you have confidence in the boat, then it isn’t some terrifying kind of feeling.

It’s not possible to be overconfident when you’re trying to do something like this, but you know, anything can come at you at any time, so you gotta be confident and constantly ready for anything. Q. I understand you’re not allowed to take on any supplies or food during your attempt. How do you do that for your estimated 230 days out there?

Yeah, it’s really careful planning because obviously it’s really important not to forget anything and you know, you get help, and you get the right advice, and you put it all together. So a lot of what I’ll be eating is freeze dried and a bit of tin and a bit of everything. So it’s just really careful planning and coordination.

Q. How do you prepare for the isolation and the unexpected?

You do what you can. You talk to the right people and you get all the advice and you can do your practice runs and all that. But when it comes down to it, there’s no way you can prepare yourself in your head for eight months alone. There’s no test for that.

How you’re gonna handle yourself after two weeks just doesn’t compare to eight months, so the only way to find out is to get out there and do it.

Q. You’re also a member and active supporter of OceansWatch. Can you talk about the importance of this, especially in the difficult times many are experiencing these days?

It’s important, and especially for sailors and yachtees, that we all do our part…and I think that that’s what they’re [OceansWatch] all about. It’s just everyone doing a little bit of what they can and chipping in. That’s how it happens.

Keeping up with the progress

Jessica is managing to find some spare moments to keep a blog up to date, talking about the preparations and what she’s going through as the departure date grows nearer. Visit her at youngestround.blogspot.com and wish her the best. Sources: Youngest Round Mooloolaba’s Jessica dreaming of the open sea Sailing solo around the world non-stop at 15

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If you’re keen on setting sail yourself, check out Buy a Boat and Learn to Sail: 5 Lessons for the Perfect Lifestyle .

Jessica may not need a crew on this trip, but others do. Read up on How to Travel the World By Crewing On Yachts .

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Where Is ‘True Spirit’s Jessica Watson Now? All About The Real Sailor’s Life, Work, And Net Worth

“I’m just an ordinary girl who believed in her dream.”

Jessica was born in Australia and grew up sailing, but she never saw herself as someone who would sail around the world . Critics doubted her ability to complete the trip, but she proved them wrong and made international headlines. The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, even deemed her an “ Australian hero ” upon her return.

“I’m just an ordinary girl who believed in her dream,” Jessica said in a speech . “You don’t have to be someone special, or anything special, to achieve something amazing. You just have to have a dream, believe in it, and work hard.”

But what has Jessica experienced since her trip? Women's Health has collected all the details, plus some more info about the film:

She’s 29 years old.

Jessica was only 16-years-old when she started her voyage around the world on October 18, 2009. She was born in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia on May 18, 1993.

Her parents are originally from New Zealand, and the sailor has dual citizenship in both countries . She is the second of four children, with an older sister, Emily, and two younger siblings–her brother Tom, and her sister Hannah.

Since her voyage, Jessica has gone back to living a pretty normal life, but she still sails and assisted with the making of True Spirit . In a recent podcast interview , Jessica said that while there’s some “movie magic,” the film is mostly “scarily accurate” to what she experienced while at sea.

She grew up on the water, literally.

Jessica began sailing at 8 years old . In fact, her family actually lived on a 16-meter cabin cruiser for five years when she was young, according to the Australian Museum . When Jessica was 11, her mother read her Lionheart by Jesse Martin while aboard their family’s boat.

The book detailed Jesse Martin’s experience on his own solo sailing journey across the world. This moment in her life inspired Jessica to work to make the voyage herself before her 17th birthday .

In the years leading up to her solo voyage, Jessica completed 6000 coastal miles, and 6000 ocean miles in preparation , according to the Australian Museum. She also crewed on many different vessels, including acting as a skipper (or captain) on a crew sailing across the Tasman sea between Australia and New Zealand.

Jessica has an MBA.

Growing up on a boat and later, a double-decker bus , Jessica was homeschooled for much of her life . But after her voyage around the world, she took a few years off from school.

By 2017, she received her MBA from the Australian Institute of Management. In a blog post she posted around the time of her graduation, she wrote that she aimed for her education to give her a path toward working with youth.

Jessica currently works as a public speaker and consultant.

Prior to the completion of her MBA, Jessica was a youth ambassador for the United Nations Food Program , where she worked with refugees from Syria and Lebanon.

Jessica currently works at Deloitte as a management consultant for their Human Capital team. She also regularly does public speaking at corporate events and conferences. She covers topics on resilience, harnessing fear, and managing risk .

Her partner died of a stroke.

In August 2021, Jessica lost her longtime partner , Cameron Dale, to a stroke.

The couple met in 2011 during an Australian sailing race called the Sydney to Hobart Campaign , and started dating shortly after. Cameron was just 29 when he died. “Being Cam’s ‘Jess’ is the role I’m most proud of,” said Jessica in an Instagram caption of a memorial post for Cameron.

Jessica now spreads awareness of early signs of stroke on her Instagram page. She has a post about Cameron’s stroke pinned at the top of her profile , and has “#checkyourbloodpressure” written in her bio.

The film True Spirit will also include a memorial dedication to Cameron .

Ben Bryant didn’t actually exist.

In True Spirit , viewers meet a character named Ben Bryant, who is played by Cliff Curtis. Ben is Jessica’s mentor in the film, and helps her in the moments leading up to, and during her voyage around the world.

His character is actually based on a group of people, rather than a specific person. In an Instagram post from last month, Jessica wrote that “Ben” is one of her favorite things about the film.

“While there are so many who so deserve their own character @cliffcurtis_ has beautifully captures the spirit of these men who were so determined to see a young girl take on the world and the way they are some of my best mates,” she wrote.

Jessica has written two books.

After speaking about her struggle with dyslexia as a child , Jessica went on to write two books of her own . She published True Spirit , the memoir detailing her voyage around the world, in September 2010–just a few months after completing her trip. The book is mostly a collection of blog posts she wrote while aboard her boat, Ella's Pink Lady .

True Spirit: The True Story of a 16-Year-Old Australian Who Sailed Solo, Nonstop, and Unassisted Around the World

In the preface, Jessica clarifies that some of the blog posts are edited or expanded upon, but it is mostly the original material. The book details the conditions of Jessica’s voyage, as well as parts of her life that led to the journey.

Indigo Blue by Jessica Watson

In 2018, Jessica penned a second book, Indigo Blue . This book is a novel for elementary schoolers, and tells the story of Alex, a high school girl who moves to Boreen Point, Australia and begins restoring a yacht. In an Instagram post she made shortly before the book was published, Jessica wrote that she hoped the book would inspire young girls to “fall in love with sailing.”

She speaks to audiences about her experience and has been on podcasts.

Since her voyage, Jessica has maintained a pretty private life. However, her public appearances mostly take the shape of inspiring speeches or podcast interviews .

In 2014, she gave a TEDx Talk called “Sail Away” which details all of the preparation that went into her voyage–from learning to stitch up sails to using the stars to navigate. In her most recent podcast appearance on the Australian podcast I’ve Got News For You , she also recounted her voyage and life.

“Sailing is something I’ve done over the years [since my voyage] but it’s something I take less seriously [now],” she said in the interview. “These days I actually have a sensible career. A desk job.”

Jessica is finding joy in her family.

As one of four siblings, Jessica’s family is very important to her. She mentioned in a recent interview that although the death of Cameron is the hardest thing she’s gone through in her life, she is getting by with the help of family and friends.

“My siblings, (it goes without saying that this includes siblings in law), your company and support are amazing,” Jessica wrote in an Instagram post reflecting on Cameron’s death.

It seems all of Jessica’s siblings are married –she’s posted about her siblings Emily and Tom’s weddings . Her younger sister, Hannah, also just welcomed a daughter in December 2022 . In an Instagram story commemorating the occasion, Jessica mentioned it was her second niece .

What is her net worth?

Between her books, job and Netflix documentary , Jessica has a few sources of income–so it’s unclear exactly how much she’s worth. Various sites put her total net worth anywhere between $1 million and $15 million . According to Glassdoor , the average salary for Jessica’s job is around $98,000 per year.

Catch True Spirit streaming on Netflix now.

Olivia Evans (she/her) is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health . Her work has previously appeared in The Cut and Teen Vogue . She loves covering topics where culture and wellness intersect. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, and watching rom-coms. 

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Meet the Adventurers of the Year: Circumnavigator Jessica Watson

Each day we will feature one of the 2010 Adventures of the Year here on our blog. Get to know them all in our photo gallery , then vote for your favorite for the People's Choice award—every day. You can even vote for a new favorite each day, if you can't pick just one. Photograph by Sergio Dionisio, Getty Images

The Circumnavigator

Jessica Watson sailed around the world, alone, as a teenager.

Before Jessica Watson steered her 34-foot yacht across four oceans, circling the globe without stopping once, her yacht had a collision with a 63,000-ton bulk carrier during the first night of a sea trial. Her boat, Ella’s Pink Lady , lost its mast. Her quest to sail around the world before her 17th birthday was already controversial, and the collision only seemed to strengthen the arguments against the young Australian—that she was too young, too inexperienced, and too immature. (These were also directed at Watson’s parents and two other young wannabe circumnavigators, siblings Zak and Abby Sunderland.) But Watson, who was raised on sailboats and is more poised than most, quietly returned to port, tended to her broken ship, and returned to sea. “Any doubts about whether I could cope mentally,” Watson later wrote, “vanished…I was stronger, more determined, and ready….”

On May 15, 2010, after 210 days, the smiling 16-year-old arrived in Sydney Harbor, the youngest single-handed, non-stop, unassisted circumnavigator of all time. This, too, would become controversial, for detractors took Watson to task for not sailing far enough into the Northern Hemisphere. No matter. Tens of thousands of fans came out to greet her triumphant return to Australia, while millions watched on national television. But perhaps more impressive were the numbers of people following her journey in real time, through her blog. Watson once wrote: “I could write about a fly landing on Ella's Pink Lady and someone would find it interesting.” And 447 encouraging comments followed. —By Ryan Bradley

Read more from Jessica Watson > >

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The Moment Jessica Watson’s Life Flipped Upside Down No Filter

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Subscribe to Mamamia The story of Jessica Watson's unbelievable solo sailing trip around the world at age 16 has been etched into Australian lore. More than a decade after that achievement, the details of how she survived 210 days of severe storms, isolation and even her boat flipping upside down 15 feet underwater, will astound you. She still holds the record for youngest person to sail solo, nonstop and unassisted around the world. No mean feat. But that trip wasn't the only storm the now 29-year-old has had to endure. Speaking to Claire Murphy, Jessica reveals the challenge of working on her newly released Netflix biopic True Spirit, while her life was falling apart. This is Jessica Watson's story. THE END BITS: With thanks to Jessica Watson. Watch True Spirit on Netflix. Find out more about the Stroke Foundation, and how to check your blood pressure. Feedback? We’re listening! Call the pod phone on 02 8999 9386 or email us at [email protected] Need more lols, info, and inspo in your ears? Find more Mamamia podcasts here. CREDITS: Host: Claire Murphy. Claire also hosts Mamamia's daily news podcast, The Quicky. Executive Producer: Elissa Ratliff Assistant Producer: Emmeline Peterson Audio Producer: Madeline Joannou Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Just by reading or listening to our content, you’re helping to fund girls in schools in some of the most disadvantaged countries in the world - through our partnership with Room to Read. We’re currently funding 300 girls in school every day and our aim is to get to 1,000. Find out more about Mamamia at mamamia.com.au  Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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