Off the Coast of Tierra del Fuego - The Battle with Cape Horn
On 16 January, Lionel Lemonchois and his nine-man crew on Gitana 13 set out on their attempt to break the record on the Route de l'Or - New York to San Francisco via Cape Horn. But the ten sailors onboard the maxi-catamaran fitted out by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild have been held up since Saturday evening by the tumult common at the tip of South America.
The rounding of the famous rock has been postponed because of storms. The course tracked out by the 33-meter catamaran suggests that Gitana 13 had finally gotten some calm weather to have a go at Cape Horn. In reality, Lionel Lemonchois and his men did a short out and back toward the famous promontory in an effort to protect itself as much as possible from successive low-pressure systems. To top things off, high winds buffeting Tierra del Fuego make mooring difficult if not impossible.
Despite this setback and the uncomfortable situation, the mood onboard Gitana 13 remains excellent. The ten sailors are taking advantage of the waiting game to inspect all the boat’s nooks and crannies. Such a detailed inspection is a good idea after 7,000 miles already covered and almost as much lying ahead.
“Sure, we would have preferred not to stop, but we'll take advantage of the proximity of the Tierra del Fuego coast to admire the stunning landscape at this end of the world," said Wroczynski, the dean of Gitana 13’s crew.
The latest weather reports indicate there will be an improvement in conditions in the next few days, we'll cross our fingers for them.
Photos: © Gitana S.A. Visit The Gitana site for more information about this incredible boat.
Technical information about the Gitana 13:
Skipper : Lionel Lemonchois
Design / Construction : Multiplast
First launch : 2000
Length : 32,8m
Width : 16,5m
Mast : 41m
Weight : 22 tonnes
Mainsail : 374m²
Solent : 177m²
Staysail : 104m²
Gennaker : 550m²
Materials : nomex carbonne
Submitted By YachtPals on 05 Feb
catamaran, sailboats, sailboat, sailing, sailing record, sailing records, yachts, boats
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Cape Horn here we come
07/02/2008 - 11:55
For five days we’ve been knocking on the door to the immense Pacific Ocean. But it’s not really so pacific, seeing what the god Zephyr has been throwing at us. With one low-pressure system after the next, the Horn doesn’t want to let us through right now. At these latitudes, Mother Nature imposes her law brutally, no discussion, no compromise: this is no place for the reckless, many of whom have lost their life here.
Onboard, only three of us have already dealt with the harshness of the Great South. Apart from the thrill of challenging the record on this legendary sailing route, each member of Gitana 13’s crew—young or old—signed up for this adventure for one reason: to round Cape Horn come hell or high water! Forget about how long it takes and what we’ll have to put up with, no one onboard is complaining. This is why we're here and we will succeed!!
For us, whether ocean racers or simple sailors, this is the Holy Grail: it’s one of those things you have to do at least once. It may be a useless trophy, an invisible award...that’s not important. Some may turn it into an earring—a sort of distinction, membership in a group—while others will simply enjoy the satisfaction of having done it, having been there. In any event, if this is the person’s first time or not, these wonderful memories will remain engraved in our hearts and souls, and I think that's what we're really after anyway. Cape Horn: we want to go there!! And when we're there: we want to leave as fast as possible!!
17:48 - Cape Horn here we come
9:30 UT, we are leaving base camp this morning after exactly five days of waiting. The packs are zipped, with new batteries in the headlamps, ice axes sharpened and crampons attached to our boots. The ascent to Cape Horn promises to be slow-going, but it was time to get moving. After some discussion, we decided to make the ascent without oxygen, it'll take however long it takes, but we'll get there.
Our tent was rattled all night by dark squalls kicking up gusts above 50 knots. The mouth of Lemaire Channel is less than 10 miles away, but the sky is still dark and a heavy gray wall of rain lies on the horizon. With the ORC jib up and three reefs in the mainsail, we are resuming our long march. We should reach Cape Horn this evening.
Goodnight Lionel Lemonchois
Best of luck around the horn
Go Lionel. Best of luck around the horn
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