02.03.2006
From: ABN AMRO ONE LEG FOUR DAY 12 (2)
Sent: 02 March 2006 15:34
Subject: Cape Horn
In an hour or so we will pass the legendary Cape Horn. As one of the two
Dutch boats that are part of Team ABN AMRO, I felt it was my job to maybe
share a little bit of information about this famous landmark and what the
strong connection that "we" as sailors on Dutch registered ships have had
as Cape Horn rounders.
Cape Horn is the southernmost point of land closely associated with South
America; it is located in the Hermite Islands, at the southern end of the
Tierra del Fuego archipelago.
It marks the north edge of the Drake Passage. One of the index reasons for
the Cape's fame is the strong winds and the massive seas that often run
there, The strong winds are often due to the Westerlies that run across
the Southern Ocean, which then hit the Andes Mountain range in Chile and
are forced to accelerate around the Horn. With big winds often come big
waves, but they have two good reasons to get even bigger right here, the
vast expanse of the Southern Ocean that is so often pushed by the Westerly
regime of winds is forced through Drakes Passage that is only 440 nm wide
and then it also shallows up drastically so it is a narrow gap between
South America and Antarctica.
Cape Horn was originally given the Dutch name "Kaap Hoorn", in honour of
the Dutch city of Hoorn. It is commonly known to sailors simply as The
Horn.
Founded in 1357, Hoorn rapidly grew to become a major harbour town. During
Holland's 'Golden Century', Hoorn was an important home base for the Dutch
East India Company ( VOC ) and a very prosperous center of trade. Even
though I am not a great novel reader, I have become pretty familiar with
the VOC thanks indexly to Wilbur Smith and the Courtney Family.
With their skill in trade and seafaring, sons of Hoorn established the
town's name far and wide. Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587-1629) is famous for
having "founded" the city of Batavia in 1619 (now Jakarta).
In 1616, (31 January) the explorer Willem Corneliszoon Schouten (born in
Hoorn) braved furious storms as he rounded the southernmost tip of South
America. He named it Kaap Hoorn (Cape Horn) in honour of his hometown.
So it is with a great amount of pride that we will be Flying our Dutch
Flag off the back of ABN AMRO 1 as we round the Horn in less then an hour.
If only Willem Corneliszoon Schouten could see us now I think he would be
more amazed at the fact that we are closing in on this amazing landmark at
23 knots of boat speed, rather then the fact that we are actually going
around it..
Thank you Southern Ocean for a safe Passage.. we know you have treated us
kindly..
Regards
Mike Sanderson – skipper
On Behalf of.
Stan , Brad, Mark, Sidney, Tony, Rob, Dave, Jan and Justin "team ABN AMRO
1"
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