Round-the-world Australian teen crosses the equator

Sydney - Australian teenager Jessica Watson has crossed the equator and set a course south for Cape Horn in her bid to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world. "We are just so pleased," mother Julie Watson said in a statement Thursday. "Jessica has reached her first big milestone."

Watson, 16, set sail from Sydney a month ago for what she hopes will be an eight-month voyage and a place in the record books.

The Queenslander has yet to face any challenging weather and is ahead of schedule.

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.