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Teen sailor Jessica Watson - Source: Getty Images -
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Australian teenage sailor Jessica Watson has swept past the halfway mark of her solo-round-the-world voyage.
The 16-year-old's parents were in a plane trying to get a glimpse of her as she passed the most southerly point of South America, Cape Horn on Thursday morning.
She has completed the first half and the most difficult part of her 23,000-nautical-mile journey.
Her media spokesman Andrew Fraser says Watson was more than 100km past Cape Horn at about 11am NZT on Thursday.
The teen has so far defied her critics, including the Queensland government and some of Australia's most experienced sailors, who in October called for her to abandon the voyage after she collided with a cargo ship during a sea trial.
Fraser says she has truly left behind any sceptics.
"Credit where credit is due. Jess has now done almost 10,000 miles and she has rounded Cape Horn in difficult conditions - about 40 knot winds and swells of up to six metres," he says.
"We are very proud of her but to be honest the sceptics never bothered us.
"Australia should be getting behind this girl which I believe they are. Her website appears to have crashed this morning."
Watson regularly posts blogs on her webiste .
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