Cape Horn, the story of a myth

It is a dark, blackish 425-meter cliff. It is a sinister and cold rock in an inhospitable area. Sometimes, after weeks of battling the ocean sailors do not even have the chance  to see it, others are ultimately disappointed by this piece of land that says nothing, except marking the feat they have just achieved.

It takes guts, skill and patience to pass the southernmost point of all the continents, located at 55°58’ South and 67°17’ West. Geographically, it is a continental shelf where the swell comes to a halt, a funnel stuck between the cold waters of the Antarctic and the more temperate waters of the Pacific. The weather often rages there and it is not uncommon for gusts of more than 70 knots to sweep the area.

An incredible level of danger

While some may have crossed it by accident before, the first recorded crossing dates back to January 1616. A Dutch ship, led by Willem Schouten, financed by Isaac Lemaire, sought to find a new commercial passage. This one, which runs along the 425-metre cliff, is one. And their home town Kap Hoorn gives its name to this mythical cape.

Their discovery is a boon for global maritime traffic. From now on, there is no longer any need to go through the perilous Strait of Magellan. Traffic in the area intensified in the 19th century because of  the gold rush. But the sailors of the tall ships that attempt it from East to West often had to spend several days battling to round Cape Horn. In the spring of 1788, the crew of the Bounty - well before their final inclinations to mutiny - had to wait more than twenty days, unable to make progress in the rough seas and icy winds. The level of danger is so great that there are many tragedies and hundreds of lives have been lost here over the course of maritime history.

"It was a hellish cauldron"

It was only in 1968, during the Golden Globe Challenge, the first non-stop round the world race, that skippers ventured past during a race. For the sailors of the Vendée Globe, it has become an obligatory passage. It is the third cape to be rounded (after Bonne Espérance and Leeuwin). For the rookies, it is all new and marks the ultimate release, the deliverance from the Pacific. Jean-Luc Van den Heede, a competitor in the first edition in 1989, recounts in one of his books*: "I must admit that I trembled. It was a hellish cauldron, I just prioritised looking after myself". In 1997, it was near Cape Horn that Canadian Gerry Roufs disappeared. In his last communication with the race organization, he explained: "the waves are not waves, they are higher than the Alps!" At the same time, Isabelle Autissier described gusts reaching 97 knots! She and Marc Thiercelin tried to look for Roufs for a while but the ten-meter troughs and the freezing cold forced them to quickly abandon the search. It was only a year later that the Chilean army managed to find pieces of the hull off the coast of Atalaya Island, more than 300 miles north of Cape Horn.

"Fear" and relief

Four years ago, Jean Le Cam spoke of "a border". He can testify to the harshness of Cape Horn: that's where he capsized in January 2009. Vincent Riou and Armel Le Cléac'h had diverted. The boat had capsized, Vincent had managed to hoist Jean aboard his IMOCA PRB. "When Jean got out of his boat off Cape Horn, he was hanging on to his rudder, I was passing by," remembers Vincent*. "It was a very strong emotion, complicated to manage, something rare. All my life, I will remember Jean's look." 24 hours later, a port outrigger failure caused PRB to dismast. Picked up by the Chilean army, the two sailors were then disembarked in Patagonia.

A handful of years later, Cape Horn once again stands in the way of the Vendée Globe skippers. During the last edition, Yannick Bestaven admitted to “being scared”. He explained: “it’s Nazaré non-stop, you feel like you’re surfing with 8 to 10 metres of waves”. Some had to hang on, like Maxime Sorel whose boat had turned horizontal and Boris Herrmann who had torn his mainsail.

Rounding Cape Horn offers an incredible relief that all the skippers share. “I cried all the tears in my body, it took so much effort to get here” said Damien Seguin four years ago. There is a before and especially an after that we learn to savor. "Suddenly, you feel less tension, you feel lighter" said Armel Tripon. And Thomas Ruyant concluded: "it's crazy how brutal the transition is. Morally, I felt completely re-energized having done it and to be heading home”

All these sailors, like their elders, cultivate a certain pride from then on: they will forever be part of the very exclusive group of 'Cape Horners'.

* "Un globe à la force du poignet" (Filipacchi, 1990) 
*"Vendée Globe, les aventuriers du grand Sud" (Hugo Sport, 2024)