Laura Dekker's Circumnavigation

[deckofficer]

Thanks MacG for all the insight. I hope Nick gets a chance to talk to her again in Colon.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by bengtinge

The reason Laura could need a manager, was to handle the real sharks; the nasty part of the media, who were only looking for a reason to criticise her and the team. Abby and her team had no manager, and see how infamous they were also before the accident.

Anyway: I write since I would like to share a transcript of a TV-interview Laura did on the first channel in Germany. She speak almost fault free German.
The interview is available on youtube (German only)

And my transcript translated to English is: link
The transcript is somewhat shortened, it was a little hard to understand all, for me who does not have German as first language. I hope I got it all correct.

The popular talk show host Thomas Gottschalk asked many questions, some interesting, some a little odd, but he supported Laura, and was impressed by her achievement.

bengtinge, thanks for the translation. I think Abby had that media shark prior to de-masting in the Indian Ocean and I also feel it was him that suggested to her the good old "rogue wave" explanation. As mentioned on my forum.....

The question is, would she rather be Joshua Slocomb/Robin Graham or Paris Hilton/any Kardashian.

As for her being over-promoted in the US, see Danica Patrick (AKA Princess Sparkle Pony)

Reading her latest blog entry, I think right now she'd like to kick back, re-read her logs and notes, and re-enjoy her journey.

It does boil down to the company you keep. I would rather see her go the Joshua Slocomb/Robin Graham route rather than the Paris Hilton/any Kardashian route, and I'm certain fellow cruisers would agree.

[MacG]

I think she is too clever to let her deviated by filming and writing media. She is a bit fed up with telling the same story over again and having seen the Thomas Gottschalk show she remained quite stoistic during the interview.
I do not know what she is willing to tell and what not. It is clearly visible that she is not telling all about her experiences.

I don't think she will be a socialite like those fat Kardashians, not to speak of all those other media raised nitwits who only know how to trash money.
Anyhow I am up for a couple of weeks silence as I am almost ready with fitting out my boat. Last job to do is hauling out and respray the deck. Summer is slowly advancing.

[deckofficer]

Tell us how the refit goes if you have the time.

[reed1v]

Best just to forget her and her voyage since she is lawyered up. It would seem a commercial venture not for public comments. Raises question as to it being for ?

[avb3]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Best just to forget her and her voyage since she is lawyered up. It would seem a commercial venture not for public comments. Raises question as to it being for ?

As I understand German, I didn't read the translation. One of her last comments was that when the interviewer commented that, "Now you are rich and famous", her response was "Rich not at all, and I didn't care to be famous."

She is a very settled person... tons of respect to not only her achievement, but to her attitude.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by avb3

As I understand German, I didn't read the translation. One of her last comments was that when the interviewer commented that, "Now you are rich and famous", her response was "Rich not at all, and I didn't care to be famous."

She is a very settled person... tons of respect to not only her achievement, but to her attitude.

Yes, that is what she said, and in the beginning, probably true. But the host of that show, well his people had to deal with Laura's people, which means the PR shark tank of Mercer PR, so the host's question was valid, as Mercer PR could spin dog poop into a casserole. Laura's accomplishments do not need this kind of representation, having it only puts into question as to why? Unlike Abby, who was ill-prepared for the sea state she encountered and lost "Wild Eyes", Laura is a very skilled sailor. Mercer PR got Abby to say "rogue wave" took her out, and spun the book to be survival at sea. The following interviews with Abby were tainted by this PR piranha, and boy does he like to get his ugly, bald mug in the camera shots, a bit like Gloria Allred. Below is Mercer in action.....

U.S. Teen Sailor Reunited With Brother - YouTube

Notice his mug in that video at least 3 times

And full spin mode. Do you think Laura needs this? She started out with good intentions, the love of sailing and the skill set to do it, however, by bringing Mercer on board, it is now about the money.

"Unsinkable: A Young Woman's Courageous Battle on the High Seas" Book Promo - YouTube

[David M]

She is a wonderful gal for accomplishing what she did but I do not think that someone not looking for fame would be holding press conferences.

She will go on the lecture circuit and turn what she did into a career. And I say more power to her for doing this. I wish everyone could make a career out of doing what they love.

[Astrid]

I think she is probably being managed by the promotional people; the sailing around the world was the fun and easy part--now comes the real work for someone who does not much like being in the public eye.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by David M

She is a wonderful gal for accomplishing what she did but I do not think that someone not looking for fame would be holding press conferences.

She will go on the lecture circuit and turn what she did into a career. And I say more power to her for doing this. I wish everyone could make a career out of doing what they love.

David,

I don't begrudge her the opportunity she now has to capitalize on what her skill set and determination has allowed her to accomplish. I have and always will be an ardent supporter of Laura. It is the choosing of Lyall Mercer, media hound and ambulance chaser extraordinaire, as her PR rep, that I feel taints her accomplishments. Just research his involvement with QANTAS Flight QF72 and you will see firsthand the bottom feeder this guy is. There are plenty of PR firms that help a client navigate the media in a positive light, but Laura's people went with Mercer. I will admit at this time an agenda on my part. Prior to this Monday I had never even heard of Mercer PR, even though our paths crossed a month ago. On Monday I awoke to find out my forum's host, Lefora, was under attack from Mercer, and Lefora pulled my entire 18 page thread on Laura, which as here, was all very positive. I had started my forum just a year ago, as a place that would be run in a democratic fashion, no one would be banned, no thread closed, and most important, no thread removed, as that is a slap to everyone that contributes time and effort in posting to a thread. My members were quite upset to lose all that posting history and even though it was my forum, I was powerless to do anything about it. Correspondence to both Mercer and Lefora to date has gone unanswered.

Sorry for that drift, this is about Laura, not me. I'm sure her intentions were and are for the pure love of sailing, it is just too bad she could not of hooked up with a straight shooting PR firm, rather than the spin masters, as her story needs no spin.

[MacG]

Bob, I share your disgust for the coys/people as Mercer cs. I have the feeling that it will be - in the end - counterproductive. I feel somehow reassured that you see it withe the same eyes as I do, because daily life in the VS and overhere differ substantially.
Laura is still in her development phase, although on the end of it and any bad influence will have it's toll.

There is very little to do but hope that this will not end in a negative way.

[reed1v]

if she is so "pure" about sailing, where did all the legal staff come from? maybe she is just a hologram? anyhow, gone are the robin lee graham days of just "doing it" without the legal staff(which is really wierd to begin with). next trip around the world will likely be a six year old hermaphrodite sailing a bathtub sponsored by kohler and managed by sullivan and cromwell.

[deckofficer]

The original legal staff was paid by the state to fight on her behalf just to be able to start her voyage. See MacG's post. The current legal staff/PR media spinners,,,,, well I've already gotten in to this, so won't bother to repeat.

[deckofficer]

Laura, Jessica, and Abby share the same PR firm, so I guess this is what Laura has to look forward to

DANCING WITH THE STARS Can you pick out Jessica Watson?




I guess if this is what she wants, she picked the right PR firm. I have a hunch, the PR firm picked her, since Mercer seems to have a thing for teenage sailor girls.

[Astrid]

Isn't she the blond in the black dress with gold trim (far right in top foto and front right in bottom one)?

All the publicity, interviews, and such that Laura will have to go through now that she or her parents have effectively signed away her personal life leaves one to ask the old question, "what price glory?"