Round the Horn

Another record in the bag for Steve Fossett's Cheyenne

A day of consistent northwesterly winds has finally powered American skipper Steve Fossett and his international crew of 12 aboard the 125ft maxi-catamaran Cheyenne past Cape Horn on their Round The World Sailing record attempt. The world's largest racing catamaran crossed the longitude of the Cape Horn lighthouse (67degS 17W) at 2126 GMT tonight - 39 days 16 hours and 16 minutes after their start in France on 7 February, the fastest time yet to this milestone - and 2,5 days ahead of the world record holder's pace.

Three days of low and adverse winds coupled with time lost Sunday and again Tuesday to repair broken mainsail mast tracks have cost Fossett's team nearly half of the 4-1/2 day lead over record pace they had managed to bank during the past three weeks here in the high Southern latitudes - where they registered record-breaking passage times from the Ouessant start to Cape Leeuwin (W. Australia) and across the Indian Ocean (Cape of Good Hope - Tasmania).

Cheyenne's crew have several times displayed an extraordinary capacity for effecting large-scale running repairs in adverse conditions, including Sunday's mast repairs as well as averting the disaster of dismasting by repairing the detached forestay while racing towards Cape of Good Hope in the third week.

Having already sailed more than 18,000 miles, Fossett and his team now face at least 7,500 further miles before they reach their official RTW starting point at the French island of Ouessant, where their target is the current world record of 64 days, 8 hours, 37 mins, 24 seconds, set by Bruno Peyron (FRA) in 2002 aboard the 110' maxicatamaran Orange I.

The coming challenges the crew face are substantial, both in maximizing speed while avoiding overstressing the powerful catamaran, and in course selection. High pressure systems coming off the Argentine coast are already forcing them to plan to speed Eastwards past the Falkland Islands before they can turn North. Another ridge of High pressure then awaits them - requiring careful route planning - and a possible trade of speed for position.

An optimistic skipper Steve Fossett spoke briefly this evening: "Everyone is in high spirits here. For 6 of us it is the first time around the Horn. For ( Cheyenne watch captain) Jacques Vincent, it is the seventh time - which is the most ever of any racing sailor. More importantly it is a milestone in our campaign to break the RTW record. Despite an array of problems, we have reached this point faster than any other boat. We are filled with optimism that we can actually pull this off.

Now the focus shifts to our next challenge - navigating a course through the light and variable winds of the Southern Atlantic. It does not look easy"

Brian Thompson reports from on board:

We are finally getting away from the grip of this low pressure system that has been sitting on us and getting into steady breezes from the NW. Last night we had light breezes and big swells of up 7m from all sorts of directions. Although we were trying to protect our mainsail fittings we still managed to rip out the full main track on the mast. With the enormous size of this mainsail (600 square metres).

Report continues.. I had to go and reef during the last one..

The main on Cheyenne is 600 square metres of Cuben fibre weighing approx 600 kilos. Coupled with the huge roach on the sail the loads on the fittings become huge when the sail starts swinging. It can look as if a manic sailboard sailor is trying to pump the boat on to the plane.

We saw the track had pulled out at dawn and the sail was just held up by the main halyard. We dropped the sail to the deck and within 15 minutes had the track gate removed at the base of the mast and slid the headboard back on to the 145 foot track. We re-hoisted to the first reef and got sailing again. Any repairs can wait until north of the Falklands when we will enter an area of high pressure, and that will be this weekend.

Since then we have enjoyed the best sailing for the last four days, as the wind finally filled in, and we were back to downwind blasting for the last 400 miles of the Southern Ocean. We have had the blast reacher up but in this final 50 miles to the Horn the wind has picked up and we are back to the solent in 30 to 40 knots. We just passed the Diego Ramirez islands that are to the SW of the Horn, the first land seen since Ushant 39 days ago.

Otherwise it has been only sea, sky, ice and the occasional ship.

We will be rounding the Horn in about 2.5 hours and Guillermo [Altadill] is working with Spanish TV to organise a plane to get some footage of our passage. It should be a good sight.

In many ways I am looking forward to getting back into the Atlantic and heading for the finish and home. The last few days have been frustrating with the cross seas, light winds and breakages, so it will be good to get back into smoother seas and be able to sail the boat to its potential again, not backing off for the sea state all the time.

There is plenty to miss about the Southern Ocean, though; the incredible downwind runs we have had, day after day and the sights of the wildlife and the icebergs. Most of all it is the satisfaction of getting to a place that you have read so much about, and a place where you have closely followed the progress of others in previous races.

We had a good run in the Southern Ocean; we had no winds over 40 knots and did not get surprised by any ice. Although we did get caught by that final low and lost miles, at least we did not end up on the south side of it and beating. Overall our Indian Ocean crossing was well above average as this is normally the harder ocean with more gales and a worse sea state, and the Pacific was below average for us with more complex weather than usual.

We pulled out a 4.5 day lead on Orange shortly after NZ and now have a lead of 2.5 days at the Horn, as Orange had a great run in the Pacific. It’s all to play for now in the lottery that will be the South Atlantic Ocean. This is traditionally the slowest part of the trip and it will not be any different for us, there are loads of high pressures and slack areas of wind between the Falklands and 30S where the trade winds should kick in..

Will have a report on the Horn tomorrow, when we should be reaching up to the Falklands at high speed...

Brian