Cheminees Poujoulat rounds Cape Horn

Barcelona World Race leader exits the Pacific

Cheminées Poujoulat, which has lead the Barcelona World Race for the last 39 days, passed Cape Horn (67°15 11 W) at 01:00 UTC.

In so doing co-skippers Bernard Stamm and Jean Le Cam complete their passage through the inhospitable waters of the 'Big South', effectively rounding Antarctica, to start their ascent of the Atlantic to return back to Barcelona, from where they set sail on 31 December.

The Barcelona World Race leader has covered the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the Indian and the Pacific in 55 days and 13 hours. She has covered 16,400 nautical miles on the 23,300 mile theoretical course and so have 6,900 more left to finish the race.

As they passed the legendary cape as the southernmost tip of the American continent, Cheminées Poujoulat was sailing in westerly winds of 25 knots and rough seas. Stamm and Le Cam will still face typical Big South conditions for some five or six days as they ascend the Atlantic.

Even though the skippers were both passing this milestone for the fifth time each, it remains one of the most crucial and exciting moments of a round the world race, not only because on the unique challenges imposed by strong winds and big seas but it marks the 'beginning of the end' of the hard Big South conditions.

"We've been sailing for a month, more than a month, five weeks, with high conditions of wind and seas, and cold", Le Cam explained. "Now we will turn left, to the North and towards more pleasant temperatures, so in general it is good when you cross it."

Stamm added: "We feel like we reached a very important passage which allows us to go north again. Besides, it is a special passage, full of history. It is all of these things at the same time."

The rounding of Cape Horn of the second and third boats, Guillermo Altadill and José Muñoz on Neutrogena and Anna Corbella and Gerard Marin on GAES Centros Auditivos, is expected between Friday and Saturday.