Australian teenager Jessica Watson hopes to round Cape Horn today, part-way through her quest to become the youngest person to circumnavigate the world singlehanded and non-stop.

Watson, 16, sailed from Sydney on October 18 and has described Cape Horn as the half-way point for the trip aboard her 10-metre yacht, Ella’s Pink Lady. “It’s looking like we’ll be rounding the Cape first thing tomorrow morning,” Watson wrote on her blog. “Fingers
crossed that the cloud lifts a little, and I get a half-decent view as
we sail past.”

Watson hopes to beat a record set 10 years ago by fellow Australian Jesse Martin, who at 18 circumnavigated the globe on his own and unaided. Her route across the Pacific and to the Atlantic tracks that of fellow Australian Kay Cottee, who became the first woman to sail solo and unassisted round the world 21 years ago. Watson said that naval vessels from both Chile and Argentina had promised to greet her passage through the treacherous waters of the Cape.

“It’s been over a month since I have seen another boat and almost 3 months since I have seen another person, so I feel totally thrilled and
spoiled to have so many guests at once!” she wrote.”I was extra careful brushing my hair this morning, which is of course completely pointless in this wind!

Keep up with her trip at Jessica Watson.com.au