After rounding the legendary Cape Horn at 0350hrs UTC on Tuesday night. Francis Joyon and his crew of five are now about to tackle the South Atlantic. It took them 31 days 1 hour 47 minutes to sail from Ushant to the tip of South America.
Francis Joyon and his crew of five passed within 5 miles of the famous rock. The final miles approaching the infamous rock were particularly tough, because of a patch of light airs in an area of low pressure, which the trimaran was forced to cross. They now face the South Atlantic with its many hurdles. It is looking particularly calm around the Falklands, until a new low develops off Argentina. They will have to deal with the unpredictable St Helena high with a lot of tacking upwind expected. Idec Sport is this morning negotiating her way around Tierra del Fuego and the Staten Island (Isla de los Estados). Francis, Bernard, Boris, Alex and the pair discovering the Horn for teh first time, Guéno and Clément are pushing hard. This stretch along the coast will require precision driving and they will have to be particularly clever to stay up with the record pace of Banque Populaire V, which was particularly fast here four years ago.
