Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (ADOR) has safely rounded ocean racing’s most treacherous landmark — Cape Horn at the southern tip of Chile. The team is currently in second place, 12 days and 4,500 nautical miles after leaving New Zealand on Leg 5 of the round-the-world Volvo Ocean Race.
‘The Horn’, as it is most commonly known, is located on Hornos Island — a remote and rocky outcrop in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago — completely exposed to the Southern Ocean storms that rage around the bottom of the world.
Conditions were characteristically ferocious when the Azzam yacht rounded on Monday, with 25 to 30-knot winds and huge waves as the team went across the dividing line between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans just behind Leg leaders Team Alvimedica.
According to Abu Dhabi skipper Ian Walker, safely passing Cape Horn without injuries or damage was paramount to the team’s position at this stage of the leg.
“Cape Horn more than lived up to its reputation,” Walker said. “We have been sailing on the edge for the last 500 (nautical miles). The waves are so big you can’t go around them so you have to go through them and the water down here is five degrees Celsius. It’s a relief to have got around in one piece.”
The same cannot be said for one of ADOR’s main rivals, Dongfeng Race Team, whose mast snapped early on Monday, 240 nautical miles west of Cape Horn. Fortunately nobody was hurt and the boat is heading towards Ushuaia, Argentina, under its own sail.
The incident underlines the dangers the crews face in the Southern Ocean but, with the Horn safely negotiated, ADOR, currently the overall leaders in the nine-leg, 39,000-mile race, are looking to consolidate their position with another strong finish in Itajai.
“We knew how important it was to get around the Horn in touch with the pack, unscathed and in a position to challenge for the leg win in the final 2,000 miles,” Walker said. “We kept reminding ourselves — you can’t win the Volvo Ocean Race on this leg, but you can lose it.
“We have had plenty of hairy moments on the way from Auckland and even the odd wipeout, but we have no injuries and the yacht and sails are in good shape for the final push.”
ADOR navigator Simon Fisher — making his second ‘Horn’ rounding — said the fearsome history of Cape Horn was impossible to ignore and made rounding it, particularly in such extreme conditions, a major milestone.
“It’s a rounding that’s steeped in history,” Fisher said. “The Clipper ships racing to deliver tea used this route and, like us, they would have been roaring along at 20-knots and just itching for the chance to turn left at the Horn.
“The waves are simply massive down here. It’s great to have come through the Southern Ocean and, after Cape Horn, it all starts to get better.”
After 12 days of racing, fewer than 20 miles separated the leading pack of identical VO65 one-design yachts at Cape Horn.
Current estimates have the leading yachts reaching the Leg 5 finish in Itajai on April 6. ADOR fans can follow the team’s progress via the race tracker at volvooceanrace.com.
