Three Hampshire sailors have paid tribute to their former coach as they rounded Cape Horn during the Volvo Ocean Race.

Sam Davies, Dee Caffari and Libby Greenhalgh remembered their former coach Magnus Olsson, who died two years ago following a stroke, as their Team SCA boat rounded the tip of South America on stage five of the race.

The legendary Swedish sailor sailed on six Volvo Ocean Races and Whitbread (the former name for the race) campaigns.

He didn’t live to see his team set off on the epic ninth-month race, having died in April 2013.

However, Olsson’s work was remembered by SCA’s crew, skippered by Hamble’s Davies, as they laid a wreath and held a special ceremony as they reached Cape Horn on the leg between New Zealand and Brazil.

“It was a beautiful sight, the pretty wild sea and the South American cliffs shooting up from the water,” said Team SCA’s onboard reporter, Anna-Lena Elled.

“We also had our very special moment, dropping a wreath for Mange Olsson in the water. It was powerful.”

The women were carrying a eucalyptus wreath that was made in Auckland during their stop there after the last leg.

The wreath had more than 200 messages that were left by family and friends at Olsson’s memorial service in July 2013 attached.

Davies and her crew are at the back of the five-strong race fleet, cruising to the finish after taking damage earlier in the notorious Southern Ocean last week.

They are more than 700 nautical miles from the lead. Meanwhile, Warsash skipper Ian Walker and Southampton navigator Simon Fisher, onboard the Abu Dhabi boat, are holding a narrow lead, with Team Alvemedica just 0.5 nautical miles behind.

Rob Greenhalgh, Libby’s brother, is in third, 12 nautical miles off Walker’s frontrunners on the Spanish-backed MAPFRE boat, according to the latest location reports.

The majority of the fleet are due to finish on Sunday.