Schoolgirl sailor aims for Australia to set around-world record

SYDNEY: An Australian schoolgirl bidding to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world hit the home stretch yesterday, passing South Africa's Cape of Good Hope for her final Indian Ocean leg.

Jessica Watson, 16, passed the Cape, a rocky headland near the point where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet, shortly after midnight GMT, marking the last landmark of her journey before she returns to Australia.

"I'm really thrilled to have another Cape down and to be in the Indian Ocean. Next target is Australia," Watson wrote on her blog.