British yachtsman Alex Thomson and his Australian co-skipper Andrew Cape have crossed the equator into the Southern Hemisphere, while competing in the double-handed non-stop Barcelona around the world race, the first ever of its kind, which started from Barcelona, Spain on 11th November.

HUGO BOSS, the only British yacht in the fleet, was the fifth boat to cross the equator in what has been a slow race so far, dogged by unusually light winds. She is currently 222 nautical miles behind the leader PRB and just 21 miles behind fourth placed Delta Dore.
 
Having navigated their way through the notorious Doldrums, it will be a drag race south to the Brazilian coast, after which the race will open up as the fleet heads into the Southern Ocean. This will be Alex Thomson’s first trip back to the deep south after his boat suffered catastrophic keel failure during the Velux 5 Oceans Race last November, which ended with Alex being rescued by fellow competitor Mike Golding.
 
HUGO BOSS is a brand new IMOCA Open 60, the successor to the boat that Alex lost.