Volvo Ocean Race: The bonus point belongs to Brunel, the thoughts to John Fisher

The goal tour is coming to an end: Team Brunel was the first boat in the Volvo Ocean Race fleet to reach Cape Horn at 13.01 UTC (15.01 German time) and earn the bonus point that goes with it. The experienced circumnavigator Bouwe Bekking (8th participation), his navigator Andrew Cape (7th participation) and the crew on the yellow boat passed the legendary landmark on Thursday afternoon. The other five boats were to follow shortly afterwards. At the same time, Team Sun Hung Kai / Scallywag, which had been badly hit by the fatal accident of their crew member John Fisher, approached the Chilean west coast.

One of the most brutal sections of the Cape Horn leg in the history of the Volvo Ocean Race has come to an end for the Cape Horn conquerors. Bouwe Bekking had already reported in the morning how challenging the last nautical miles were after almost one and a half storm-whipped weeks: "We completed three gybes, all at around 40 knots. The big question that arose: Do we furl the gennaker and then jibe or do we let it fly because it's easier to get the mainsail through that way? But then there's the risk of a massive sunshake. We decided to let it fly three times. The last time in 43 knots of wind. Because I drive the bus in the jibes, it must have been funny to watch my pulse rate. But everything went well. And you could see the relief on everyone's face every time. But the most exciting thing about today was that we nearly burnt down. We had an electronic fire in the media corner, but luckily we didn't have to use the fire extinguisher. Capey (Andrew Cape, ed.) just quickly switched off all the equipment and that fixed it."

Although Team Brunel's crew were delighted with their top position and the bonus point that came with it, Bekking wrote in his blog that his crew were "very, very, very tired". There was "no feeling of elation" on board that usually accompanies Cape Horn passages. He himself had not slept for 14 hours. Bekking once again recalled the tragedy of this leg: "The loss of John is much deeper than people would like to admit: I think about him several times every hour."

AkzoNobel's Australian watch manager Chris Nicholson said: "This stage has claimed a good man in 'Fish'. We are all deeply saddened by this and can only offer our condolences to the family and friends." Brunel's chasing pack was led by Vestas 11th Hour Racing on Thursday afternoon. Turn-the-Tide-on-Plastic skipper Dee Caffari said, "This rounding is definitely for 'Fish'!"