HAMPSHIRE’S young solo sailors have passed the halfway mark in a gruelling 3,000-mile race across the Atlantic.

Oscar Mead and Katie Miller have around 1,300 miles to go before reaching the finish line in the Original Singlehanded Transatlantic Race.

The pair, the youngest ever male and female to compete in the classic yacht race, have seen winds of up to 50 knots since setting off from Plymouth bound for Newport, Rhode Island, on May 25, writes Will Carson.

Leading his fleet in class two, 18-year-old Mead, who goes to Solent University, said he had been becalmed in an area of light wind. He said: “I’m just bobbing about. There’s no wind, it was a long night last night.

“I’m hoping the wind will fill in and I can trickle off into the distance.”

In fifth on the water in class one, 21-year-old Miller said the race had so far been exhilarating. She said: “Since the start we’ve had all sorts of weather thrown at us from 35 knot winds to dead calm. The strong north-westerly winds have meant we have been able to sail a lot faster than we could have imagined. It’s always exhilarating but to be honest a bit scary.”

Miller was last night chasing Lymington yachtswoman Hannah White who was in third place in class one.