Despite all the media hype and the millions poured into the Vendee Globe and simiilar races, the achievement of three men and a teenager aboard Spirit of Mystery towers above them.

Anyone reading Pete Goss' account of the knock down and the moments following, as the cabin inverted and water poured through the hatchway, will be awed.  Those of us who have weathered violent storms at sea in a sailing yacht will know what Pete means when he talks about the noise as well as the water. The screaming of wind through the rigging is something that you never forget.

Spirit of Mystery is a faithful copy of a Cornish wooden lugger built more than 150 years ago. She is worlds apart from the modern 60 foot open IMOCA racing yachts.  She is slow, but well built.  Pete Goss, well used to running from the path of ocean storms in racing yachts doing between 15 and 20 knots described sailing her as being a bit like a hedgehog caught in the middle of the road.

Sailers.co.uk had been celebrating the news that Spirit of Mystery had reached Australian waters. And then we heard the news about the knock down, and Mark Maidment's broken leg. 

If you have the time, do read the full account of the knock down on Pete Goss' blog.  And then compare the experience with that of some of the Vendee Globe competitors.  I rather suspect that a 60' IMOCA meeting that kind of freak wave might well have been at the very least dismasted.  And possibly mortally damaged.  Yet two men and a teenager coped with the very worst that the sea can do - a violent storm in the Southern Ocean and then a freak wave that rolled them and severely injured a crew member - and they brought both the yacht and the injured crewman to safety.  Not only that, but they then calmly continued their voyage to Melbourne.

Eliot Goss was only 14 when the voyage started.  As Pete says:  " He's only a boy but it's a man's job that is required and he has measured up."  That must be an understatement.  Eliot is not the only teenager prepared to face real danger to achieve his dream.  We have also been following Mike Perham, who is right now facing the start of a crossing of the Southern Ocean.

Fear is a strange thing. When you are up on deck, fighting the elements and coping with what they are throwing at you, you often feel unafraid, even elated. But down below, when you can't see what is happening, and are literally being thrown up in the air from your bunk as the yacht drops off a wave, fear is real.  What must it have been like for Andy and Eliot, down below as the yacht nearly inverted and water poured in?

It should make us question the kind of society we want.  Do we really want a health and safety society where even pancake races are considered too risky, and young people are prevented from experiencing any kind of danger? Or do we want a society where teenagers are allowed to take risks in order to reach their potential? Yes, when risks are real, then there will be tragic accidents.  But remove the risk of any accident, and a kind of rot sets into society, bringing with it all kinds of problems.

Despite the milliions of pounds poured into the Vendee Globe, the voyage of the Spirit of Mystery stands high above it in sheer grit and achievement. Two men and a teenager brought their yacht and a seriously injured crewman to safety after an horrific experience. It is a tremendous achievement for them.   But it also holds a wider lesson for our own society about the need to encourage people of all ages to reach for their dreams, even if it means taking real risks in the process.