There's nothing can stop her now...Jessica Watson rounding the Horn!

4:31 AM Wed 13 Jan 2010 GMT

'Jessica' .

With a 'mere' 35 knots and a 'mere' three metres of swell, Jessica Watson in her 36ft yacht Ella's Pink Lady must be the luckiest girl in the world as she rounds Cape Horn.

Jessica’s route showing her current position - .. .

She is lucky, not because she deserves any the less credit for taking on one of the most challenging of all sailing endeavours, but lucky because the winds and the seas could have been much worse, given the history and reports from the many others who have preceded her over the years.

As the seas become shallow in the pass between Antarctica and South America and also must squeeze between the two great land masses, the current is strong and the winds can reach 80 knots frequently, producing mammoth seas. This, along with the freezing temperatures, is what makes the Horn one of the most treacherous in the world.

Rounding the Horn just before her is most recent radio buddy, the Indian Navy Commander Dilip Donde who has also reported gale force winds as he passed the mighty Cape and headed for the Falklands, his next scheduled stop.

Jessica was upbeat as she reported that both Chilean and Argentinian Navy ships had promised to 'sail by and give me a wave', and was particularly excited at the prospect of her parents, who have flown to Punta Arenas in Chile, preparing to overfly her and speak by radio.

In the meantime, back in California, Jessica's American counterpart Abby Sunderland has announced Saturday 16th January as her departure date for her own attempt at the same record as Jessica, a non-stop unassisted sail around the globe. As Abby is some months younger and will be sailing a much faster boat, it is anyone's guess which one of these courageous young sailors will take - or keep - the prize.

by Nancy Knudsen