Speaking on his arrival in Cape Town, Dalton said, "Torbay to Cape Town has been a very tough leg mentally and physically. The race started head on into a force nine storm, followed by exactly the opposite weather in the Doldrums. The one constant on this journey has been the support I have received from the children following the race online." The challenging conditions were highlighted by the fact that, upon arrival in Cape Town, Dalton discovered a crack in his mast, which will have to be fixed during the four-week stopover.

While in Cape Town Dalton will, along with UK yachtswoman Emma Richards, take part in the HSBC Global Education Challenge Road Show, which will tour schools in Cape Town and its townships. This is a live version of the HSBC Global Education Challenge website, www.education.hsbc.com, an education programme which focuses on aspects of the natural world that the yachts will face on their circumnavigation.

The road show, which will take place from 27 - 29 November, aims to bring the Challenge to over 3,000 pupils at schools that have been twinned with participating schools in the UK. These partnerships will give pupils in the UK a glimpse of life in South African townships and vice versa.

The next two Americans to arrive in Cape Town, Brad Van Liew on Tommy Hilfiger Freedom America and Bruce Schwab on Ocean Planet, are now facing the prospect of the South Atlantic high, which is spread long and wide right in front of them and the forecast says it ain’t moving ! No such lucky escape for them like the Class 1 boats with their corner-cutting route to Cape Town. Their enforced longer sweep around to the West may give the rest of Class 2 a chance to come back as by the time Derek Hatfield and Tim Kent are in the same vicinity the weather pattern could have changed completely and the Saint Helena high may well be more benign.

In fact the next three boats are back to "on-the-side" sailing as Kojiro Shiraishi phrased it. Derek Hatfield found it difficult to type when the boat is heeled over 20 degrees. However, Kojiro finds it very difficult to sleep, with the boat heeled over and punching through the waves. The resourceful Japanese skipper set his mind to making his living quarters more comfortable : "When I used the upper berth I always ended up rolling over or falling out. But when I sleep in the lower berth I still have problem when the boat is heeling that my back has to rest against the sidewall of the water ballast tank. Then the great brainwave ! I have arranged the fenders under the top lid of the storage bin, which is the berth. I have one round white fender and one blue mat fender firmly fit under it. This has made the most surprisingly comfortable support system. The berth is almost fully horizontal and in addition my extra height and body position means I am sure that the boat is running smoother and just that fraction faster. Good news all round and a double benefit !"

And finally, over the Equator for both John Dennis & Alan Paris this week ! The tone of these skippers’ daily logs really lifts, indicating a huge psychological boost for them, as they are now "in the same ocean as Cape Town", as John Dennis summed up. "This was quite a milestone ?and i was not the last boat across. Today has been a solid bash into trade winds which i will have for quite a while i hope. 6.5 to 9.5 kts of boat speed and up to 24 kts of wind keep me busy reefing and unreefing and loading and dumping ballast."

Alan Paris felt the same enormous relief as he recorded his passage : "At 2:15 a.m. on Wednesday 13th November BTC Velocity crossed into the southern hemisphere. After 23 days at sea from Torbay, England this is a rite of passage for any sailor to have reached. Although the Champagne was warm, a toast was had for Skipper, Boat and some poured into the sea to encourage the good favour of King Neptune. Conditions are beautiful except that life is back to a 25 degree angle of heel, where every movement I make is timed with the anticipated movement of BTC Velocity so as not to get thrown around. Next goal......Cape Town sometime the first week of December."