The International Association of Cape Hoorniers ( IACH ) has announced that it will be adding prominent names to its circumnavigation register. Cape Horn is the most significant of the three large capes. The region around the rock is one of the most inhospitable corners of the seven seas.
Golden Globe Race sailor Kirsten Neuschäfer was the first of the newcomers to round the infamous Cape on 16 February, winning the retro race around the world with her Cape George 36 "Minnehaha" a few months later. She is the first woman ever to win a regatta around the world. She was followed around Cape Horn by Abhilash Tomy from India, Michael Guggenberger from Austria, Simon Curwen from Great Britain and Jeremy Bagshaw from South Africa, as well as other Cape Horn newcomers.
One month later, the sailors of The Ocean Race battled to round Cape Horn in first place. The fleet was led by Boris Herrmann and his crew of four on board "Malizia-Seaexplorer". The team rounded the Cape just 20 miles ahead of Team Holcim-PRB, followed by Biotherm and 11th Hour Racing 250 miles behind. On 27 March, Team Malizia also set a new record for the distance from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn: 27 days, 17 hours and 31 minutes.
The myth of Cape Horn
Until the beginning of the 19th century, the area around Cape Horn remained a relatively little-travelled shipping route. The wind, currents and, above all, the fast-approaching storms were too dangerous and the square-rigged sailing ships of the time were too sluggish. However, the route around Cape Horn gained in importance with the start of the saltpetre voyages in the 19th century. European shipping companies deployed cargo ships to load saltpetre on the coasts of Chile.
The "Pamir" rounded the legendary Cape in 1949 as the last cargo ship without an auxiliary engine. The great age of cargo ships came to an end with her. They were replaced by steam and motorised ships. In addition, a safer route from the Atlantic to the Pacific had already existed since 1914 with the Panama Canal.
What is a "Cape Hoornier"?
Nevertheless, the most unpredictable sea area in the world has never lost its fascination. The first US private yacht to round the Cape on a westerly course was the "Coronet" at the end of the 19th century - an exceptional achievement that made her famous. Only since the 1970s have more and more leisure skippers, circumnavigators and adventurers sailed around the Cape, and today it is they who keep the myth alive.
They are now also referred to as "Cape Horners" in a broader sense. Originally, the term only referred to sailors who had circumnavigated Cape Horn on a cargo ship without an auxiliary engine. Until 2003, there was even a worldwide association of Cape Horners. However, this was dissolved because almost all the Cape Horners had died in the meantime.
Own Hall of Fame
With the start of further races around the world, such as the Global Solo Challenge or the Ocean Globe Race, even more new Cape Horners are expected to be added to the list in a year's time. There are currently 180 solo circumnavigations and 1,857 crewed circumnavigations on the list. The register has been in existence since 2020 (with crew since 2022) and is updated and supplemented on an ongoing basis. About this link circumnavigations can be registered.
In addition, the association founded its own "Cape Horn Hall of Fame" in 2022 and initially inducted 28 sailors with a special connection to the Cape. The personalities were immortalised for posterity in France on the IACH plaque of honour in Les Sables-d'Olonne.
