Duos Round the Horn

With records being shattered in the Caribbean, AC45s foiling around the Bay at AC72 speeds, and the Volvo Ocean Race fleet steaming into Auckland, it would almost be easy to forget that a fleet of seven Open 60s are still racing around the globe in the Barcelona World Race. Fifty-five days after starting on New Year’s Eve in Barcelona, Frenchman Jean Le Cam and Swiss sailor Bernard Stamm on Cheminées Poujoulat have rounded the iconic and infamous Cape Horn with a thousand-mile lead in the third edition of this doublehanded, nonstop race. Currently rocketing up the Atlantic on the top of a moderate low-pressure system, which is creating winds of 30-35 knots, the duo is being afforded a fast and relatively easy downwind passage of a zone that is notorious for boat-breaking upwind conditions. Conditions should go lighter and become more complex later this weekend, but life is good for the leaders, who are 6,000 miles from the finish.

While Stamm and Le Cam are looking rock-solid in the lead, second place is still up for grabs, though Neutrogena has begun to re-extend their lead over GAES Centros Auditivos despite making a quick pit stop at the southern tip of New Zealand’s south island. Neutrogena and GAES are currently making their approach to Cape Horn, and both should pass the milestone in the next 24 hours.

Arguably the hottest battle on the race course, however, is more than 2,000 miles farther back, as Spanish brothers Willy and Bruno Garcia on We Are Water are currently sailing in fourth place ahead of fellow Spanish boat One Planet, One Ocean / Pharmaton, while a rejuvenated and recently repaired Renault Captur is coming up from behind in sixth place after their pit stop in Wellington, New Zealand. At the tail end of the fleet, Spirit of Hungary has just re-started from Bluff, New Zealand, after a technical stop of their own and are set to negotiate light airs for 24 hours before jumping back onto the eastbound express that is the Southern Ocean.