Jessica Watson - weather holds good as Cape Horn nears

by Nancy Knudsen on 8 Jan 2010 It's almost all good news for Australian sixteen-year-old Jessica Watson as she nears Cape Horn. With only 500 nm to go before she rounds the much dreaded cape, the weather is holding good at not more than 40 knots, she has repaired the block on her main, and her mum and dad are flying to the Horn to watch her sail through.

While 40 knots sounds like a bad blow for most of us, and there's many a racing boat that will be in serious trouble with that wind speed once the seas get up , 40 knots for the Southern Ocean is pretty mild. With the wind behind you, there are many Cape Horn survivors who have recorded 70 knots across the deck when a system comes through. With the wind back round a reported 8 knots in the last 24 hours, and only 500 nm to go, Jessica will be wanting to take advantage of every breath of wind to get her around Cape Horn before a new front passes through.

In the meantime, Roger and Julie Watson have decided to fly to South America to be close to Jessica as she passes this, her first big hurdle in her quest to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the world non-stop and unassisted. They told their local newspaper that they will be flying over Jessica in a private aircraft as she rounds the Horn.

They are not the only friendly faces that she will have close however. Last week her former boss, John Bankart, owner of Sunshine Sailing Australia, announced that he was flying to South America for his own 26 day sailing volyage from South America to Antarctica on an expedition sailing boat. Jessica was for some time a dinghy instructor for him, and he as he left he was hoping to get 'close enough to wave'.

With her satellite connection that gives her twice a day contact with her parents, access to hundreds of goodwill messages that arrive every day, and the knowledge of friends and family not far away, Jessica is having a very different experience from that of Jesse Martin, whose record she is trying to better. When Jesse completed his voyage in 1999, communications were much more primitive, and Jesse was only able to communicate with his family on comparatively rare occasions.

So what's the bad news? The young sailor has been so far unable to repair her heater, which chose her approach to Cape Horn to break down. Jessica is gamely calling it an 'optional extra', but with the air temperature inside the cabin hovering at 4 degrees Celsius, it's hardly comfortable.

Jessica has now passed the 9,000 mile mark of her 23,000 mile voyage. After rounding the Horn, Jessica is expected to swing slightly north into less inhospitable climes for a 'rest' before she ventures south again to pass the Cape of Good Hope.

Meanwhile, in Marina del Ray, California, no date has still been announced for the departure of Jessica's counterpart, Abby Sunderland. Originally Abby had planned a December departure date, but Wild Eyes is still undergoing sea trials and modifications. With a late start, Abby can expect better and better weather round the Horn, but she will be running the risk of deteriorating weather in the second half of her voyage.