One of the points Abby was making is that if you are a sailor who is 16, 26, 42 or 57 years old, you will run into storms and/or other problems, and even need to be rescued. She ALSO pointed out that no one paid attention to her trip (media et al) until things went bad. If she had completed her trip successfully - as with others that have - we wouldn't be having this discussion. So much for doing it for the "glory".

The Sunderlands are a sailing family; I think it is natural that Abby wanted to do this because her brother had a successful run.

One of the young sailors was doing his run to raise money for a charity.

Yes, they volunteered for this. They were trained, had the proper supplies on board.

Comparing it to volunteering for the military might be a bit of apples vs oranges, but I see the point. Odds of survival are much worse in Iraq and Afghanistan.