09.03.2005
Cape Horn on Cheyenne
Cheyenne rounded Cape Horn in spectacular style in the early hours of Tuesday morning. While much of the mystique and mysticism of the infamous cape is gone, robbed by ever increasing traffic of cruise ships and tourists, there is still something magic about a rounding under full sail. That rounding is even more sweet if you have sailed under your own keel all the way from the Middle East. For the crew on Cheyenne it was a great moment and one that should be enjoyed by all who are following this great race around the world. The best way to do so is to publish Wouter Verbraak’s mile-by-mile update as Cheyenne approached land after a month at sea. Here is Wouter’s log in full. An update on the rest of the racing will follow later in the day.
44.5 nautical miles to Cape Horn
The miles to Cape Horn are steadily ticking away! It is pitch black with squally winds between 15 and 30 knots. One moment we are hanging on, the next moment we are underpowered. Very hard to make solid sail calls at this moment.
42.6 nautical miles to Cape Horn
It will be very good to turn the corner and go north. Tomorrow we will have to negotiate the strait of Le Maire, which is 100 Nm northeast from Cape Horn.
41.2 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Conditions for the next couple of days look very good for us, with westerly winds almost all the way up to the Uruguay waypoint. There is a front coming through on Wednesday with NW winds in front of it and SW winds behind it. To negotiate this front in the best way, the plan is to go slightly west of north after the strait, passing to the west of the Falkland islands.
39.1 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Got to go on deck for a change to the staysail. Winds are shifting right, so we can have more sail up.
35.4 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Sail change done, added another two knots to the boat speed, 24 knots to the Horn. Spooky, the flood lights are creating a little micro world, lighting up the waves that are crashing over the bows. Can't see past the bows at all, everything is just pitch black tonight....and absolutely freezing of course!
34.6 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Just receiving some echo’s on the radar to leeward. By the looks of things they must be boats....first echo’s we pick up since New Zealand! What are they doing here in a night like this?
33.5 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Looks like the boats will pass to leeward just fine. Another 32 knot gust, hang on!
33.3 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Need to work out where we will have to gibe to lay the strait of le Maire. Winds are 30 degrees more right than in the weather predictions, so we can gibe earlier than we planned this afternoon.
30.8 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Back on deck, winds are lifting further. Need to change to the Solent.
27.9 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Change done, don't think we will see anything of the Cape, just pitch black.....
25.9 nautical miles to Cape Horn
We will have to continue for another 40 miles after the horn before we gibe.
15.0 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Not long to go now. Winds are increasing to 25-30 sustained, and we are flying towards the Horn.
12.5 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Seeing the first signs of land since New Zealand. OK, it is on the radar but still.
6.5 nautical miles to Cape Horn
The light house on the SW tip of the island of Cape Horn is just visible over the horizon. Civilization still exists!
3.2 nautical miles to Cape Horn
Most of the crew is on deck. Anders is handing out "the most sold car in the world"; some Swedish sweets in the shape of a car. He tells us this is the Swedish tradition for going around the Horn.....a rather strange one if you ask me, but very nice!
CAPE HORN
It is 7:46 UTC as we pass 4.8 Nm south of Kaap Hoorn!!! There is a big cheer, and everybody congratulates each other with this outstanding achievement! It takes some time for me to realise just how BIG this is....These days we all tend to be very professional about it all, and keep focused on the racing.
Still to race one of these super-cat from Doha is a remarkable achievement that we are all very proud of. The boat and crew both are in good shape, and we have to thank the skipper for that. David has been terrific at balancing performance against preserving the boat. Yes, we are 700 nautical miles behind the leader, but in all we have managed the Southern Ocean well. Unlucky with the weather in the first part, lucky with the weather in the second part. It is all part of the game!
For me personally this is something that I dreamed of since I was thirteen, and I can't wait to get back already! (with a warmer interval in between that is!). I have just called my wife and parents to tell them how happy and thrilled I am, and thanked my wife for supporting me in achieving my dream. Believe me it is a lot of hard work to get to here. It is not easy for the ones we leave behind for such a long time, so knowing that we have rounded the Cape safely is a big relief.
From now on we are really on our way home. I am looking forward to the reindexder of the trip, but at the same time I am also starting to think about life after. Definitely some skiing involved with that! Hopefully I will be back here in one years time with the Volvo Ocean Race. Time will tell.
Now back to work.....a large shift has ruined all my previous calculations for the approach to the strait of Le Maire.....will this nightmare, I mean dream! ever end?
Thank you for all the support we are getting! It has really helped us!!!
Wouter
--- Brian Hancock brian.hancock@qisel.com
www.oryxquest.com
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