Cape Horn: a macabre past, a myth still intimidating

This 423 meter high rock is a myth in the world of navigation, so much so that there are sailors who have passed it, and others. What makes his legend?

Patrick Benoiton: His legend comes from the 19th century. It was one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, with tall ships. Its passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific was against the wind and the current, and boats were not made for that. They took weeks to cover very little distance, in incredible windy and cold conditions. This extreme difficulty has made it legendary. Moreover, when the guards asked the convicts in Guyana for work that was too difficult, they replied: “We’re not sailors!” Sailing was considered harder than the penal colony.

You recall in your book that certain boats gave up on passing it after two months of unsuccessful attempts…

PB: Yes. The first was the Bounty, in 1788, whose lieutenant, William Bligh, finally decided to reach the Pacific via the Cape of Good Hope and the Indian Ocean. He wasn't the only one. Several large sailing ships did this in the 19th century. They were trying to tack against the wind with these boats which were not made for that. They managed to cover miles, and at one point big storms – winds of 50 or 60 knots or nearly 100 km/h – put them on the run. They were forced to follow the wind and lost in a few hours everything they had gained for days.

The reputation of Cape Horn is macabre: you specify that since the Marigold, the first shipwreck recorded, in 1578, 800 ships have been swept to the bottom and that 10,000 sailors have died. Is it from there that those who passed it became separate sailors?

PB: Yes. The sailors who managed to pass the cape had a certain reputation when they returned to port, to Saint-Malo, Nantes, or to the other Cape Horn ports. They were considered the best in the world. There have also been more shipwrecks at Cape Horn than in the other major shipwreck area, at the tip of Cornwall, in the south of England.

In 1905, there were still 53 shipwrecks at Cape Horn. Then the place is abandoned and becomes a purely sporting story. How did the transition take place?

PB: The commissioning of the Panama Canal in 1913 opened a simpler and faster route for shipowners. Traffic has completely disappeared. It was then that Joshua Slocum, a former three-masted captain regretting that era, set off alone on a boat of his design to sail around the world. Caught by a storm while passing through the Magellan Channel, he was forced to go south, without passing Cape Horn. The first to do so was a Norwegian, Hansen. Without leaving a trace because it was wrecked a little further north. We knew he had passed it because he stopped on the island of Chiloé. From that moment on, the cape became a passage of “pleasure” – from the term “pleasure” -, in any case an exploit.

Vendée Globe skippers have the advantage of crossing Cape Horn from west to east, and with maximum light.

PB: Yes, they pass it in the “right” direction, which does not mean that they have good conditions, but they have downwind. Today, in the Cape Horners Association, those who have crossed the entire Pacific or who come from the Atlantic before passing Cape Horn are considered Cape Horners. And by the time the leader passes it, probably Monday, it's summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Like June for us.

On the other hand, the place remains special whatever the seasons: the topography is really tricky. For what reasons?

PB: There is a huge fundamental change: in about a kilometer, we go from 3,000 to 4,000 meters of depth to a few hundred, as for example in the Bay of Biscay, near Capbreton. We go from 3,000 to 150 meters in one kilometer. It's a real mountain on which the sea comes up, and inevitably it becomes bigger. There is also the swell, which has had no limit in the Pacific. And then there is a very strong current from east to west in the Drake Passage. The mass of water in this passage is equivalent to those that move in all the rivers of the world. It's huge.

When the weather is bad, you can find troughs of 30 meters there, and this recalls the terrible words of Gerry Roufs just before his disappearance in the area, in 1997: “The waves are no longer waves, they are higher than the Alps. Is there anywhere else to prepare for these conditions?

PB: The North Atlantic, in winter, is one of the most dangerous places in terms of navigation. It can be hot, you can encounter big seas there. This is the result of what the offshore racing training center in Port-la-Forêt did: by pooling everyone's knowledge, they pushed the limits of navigation. Going out first with 25 knots of wind, then 30 and 35 knots.

Knowledge of sea conditions has progressed since the first edition of the Vendée Globe, it is no longer the adventure of the beginnings and the skippers know what to expect today, and how to optimize their journey. However, is Cape Horn still a piece of bravery?

PB: Oh yes! The conditions have been incredible again this year in the Indian Ocean. We'll see what Cape Horn has in store for them. Today, with weather data and multi-day forecasts, sailors can avoid the dramatic conditions encountered by Gerry Roufs in 1997.

Finally, you emphasize the population who lives on this land of 6 kilometers by 2, the aborigines whose ancestors populated the place and who are unfortunately quite invisible when navigators double the Horn.

PB: The Yagans have apparently been there for 8,000 years. They have been completely absorbed by European civil society. They are not very numerous anymore but they have their history. However, there is a desire to keep this culture and cultivate their past. It's good that they have a good place within the Chilean state.