Cape Horn is a maritime landmark renowned for rough seas and storm force winds. ‘Rounding the horn’ is an achievement in itself, but the infamous Cape holds a higher significance for Dee.
Cape Horn is a maritime landmark renowned for rough seas and storm force winds. ‘Rounding the horn’ is an achievement in itself, but the infamous Cape holds a higher significance for Dee.
Not only does it mark her entrance to the Southern Ocean and the start of the toughest chapter of her challenge, it was also the cut-off point had the problems with the auto-pilot not been resolved – it could have been the end of the Aviva Challenge. This double-edged sword gives Dee’s course around the Southern tip of South America real poignancy, but it is the geographical position and associated conditions which earned the Cape its fearsome reputation.
Uninterrupted by land, a series of low-pressure systems build from the west across the Southern Ocean causing mountainous waves and high winds.
“Cape Horn sticks out into these westerlies at about 56 degrees south, shaped like an aeroplane wing at the bottom of Chile and Argentina,” explains weather specialist Mike Broughton.
“The ridge on the end is the Andes Mountains, which are very high, so not only do you have the land sticking out, you also have the wind coming all the way along the Andes and round Cape Horn – sort of like a vortex on the end of a wing.
“Therefore you get an acceleration zone a bit like you see round any small headland but this is huge and it’s not just any wind from the north but also the wind from the west and northwest.”
Cape Horn is also one of the worst lee shores in the world, which means the wind blows towards the shore and yachts are likely to be driven towards it in storm force conditions.
And it goes on… There is a plateau stretching out from the cape which is shelved. “The waves can start to break,” continues Mike, “which makes for a large area of very rough seas. Sometimes you get a counter current and there can be big breaking waves.”
While the long waves common in the Southern Ocean can be overcome by yachts sailing up their face and down the other side, breaking waves and short seas are a real threat to yachtsmen round the Cape.
However it is not always rough due to gaps between the low-pressure systems arriving from the west. “While it is a notorious spot for strong gale-force winds,” explains Mike, “you can also get calm conditions. Because people brace themselves for going round, sometimes it can actually be a bit of an anti-climax.”
In 1984 Sir Chay Blyth - Dee’s mentor and inspiration behind the Aviva Challenge – and Eric Blunn spent 19 hours in the water off Cape Horn after their yacht Beefeater II capsized during the New York to San Francisco record attempt. At the time, Sir Chay described the seas as “the worst I have seen in my life,” which illustrates the potential ferocity of the conditions considering this incident was after he had become the first man to sail single-handed the ‘wrong way’ round the world.
When Dee rounded the Cape leading a crew of amateur sailors in December 2004, they passed 52 miles south of the cape itself and reported large waves and consistent wind blowing from the direction they were aiming for. This time round, Dee will no doubt be hoping for what would be an anti-climax for some: quiet conditions to brace herself for the onslaught of the Southern Ocean.
“It’s a huge change when she goes round the Cape,” said Mike, “and the reality is that it will be a long journey across to the Cape of Good Hope.”
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