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Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost
headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...
of the
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
of southern
Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
, and is located on the small
Hornos Island Hornos Island () is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther ...
. Although not the most southerly point of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
(which is
Ãguila Islet Ãguila Islet (, "Eagle Islet") is the Extreme points of the Americas, southernmost point of the Americas. It is part of the larger southern group of the Diego Ramírez Islands, about southwest of Cape Horn in the Drake Passage. The distance to ...
), Cape Horn marks the northern boundary of the
Drake Passage The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pa ...
and marks where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. Cape Horn was identified by mariners and first rounded in 1616 by the Dutchmen
Willem Schouten Willem Cornelisz Schouten (1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean. Biography Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born around 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Seve ...
and
Jacob Le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the Earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without contro ...
, who named it after the city of
Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...
in the
Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. For decades, Cape Horn was a major milestone on the
clipper route The clipper route was derived from the Brouwer Route and was sailed by clipper, clipper ships between Europe and the Far East, Australia and New Zealand. The route, devised by the Dutch navigator Hendrik Brouwer in 1611, reduced the time of a ...
, by which
sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...
s carried trade around the world. The waters around Cape Horn are particularly hazardous, owing to strong winds, large waves, strong currents and
iceberg An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an i ...
s. The need for boats and ships to round Cape Horn was greatly reduced by the opening of the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
in August 1914. Sailing around Cape Horn is still widely regarded as one of the major challenges in
yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...
. Thus, a few recreational sailors continue to sail this route, sometimes as part of a
circumnavigation Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical object, astronomical body (e.g. a planet or natural satellite, moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth. The first circumnaviga ...
of the globe. Almost all of these choose routes through the channels to the north of the Cape (many take a detour through the islands and anchor to wait for fair weather to visit Horn Island, or sail around it to replicate a rounding of this historic point). Several prominent ocean yacht races, notably the
Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...
,
Velux 5 Oceans Race The Velux 5 Oceans Race was a round-the-world single-handed yacht race, sailed in stages, managed by Clipper Ventures since 2000. Its most recent name comes from its main sponsor Velux. Originally known as the BOC Challenge, for the title sponsor ...
, and the solo
Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop, unassisted round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendé ...
and
Golden Globe Race The ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed sailing, single-handed, circumnavigation, round-the-world yacht racing, yacht race, held in 1968–1969, and was the first non-stop round-the-world yacht race. The race was co ...
, sail around the world via the Horn. Speed records for round-the-world sailing are recognized for following this route.


Geography and ecology

Cape Horn is located on
Hornos Island Hornos Island () is a Chilean island at the southern tip of South America. The island is mostly known for being the location of Cape Horn. It is generally considered South America's southernmost island, but the Diego Ramírez Islands are farther ...
in the
Hermite Islands __NOTOC__ The Hermite Islands () are the islands ''Hermite'', ''Herschel'', ''Deceit'' and ''Hornos'' as well as the islets ''Maxwell'', ''Jerdán'', ''Arrecife'', ''Chanticleer'', ''Hall'', ''Deceit (islet)'', and ''Hasse'' at almost the southe ...
group, at the southern end of the
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...
. It marks the north edge of the
Drake Passage The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pa ...
, the
strait A strait is a water body connecting two seas or water basins. The surface water is, for the most part, at the same elevation on both sides and flows through the strait in both directions, even though the topography generally constricts the ...
between South America and Antarctica. It is located in
Cabo de Hornos National Park Cabo de Hornos National Park is a protected area in southern Chile that was designated a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2005, along with Alberto de Agostini National Park. The world's southernmost national park, it is located 12 hours by boat fro ...
. The cape lies within Chilean territorial waters, and the Chilean Navy maintains a station on Hoorn Island, consisting of a residence, utility building, chapel, and lighthouse. A short distance from the main station is a memorial, including a large sculpture made by Chilean sculptor José Balcells featuring the silhouette of an
albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...
, in remembrance of the sailors who died while attempting to "round the Horn". It was erected in 1992 through the initiative of the Chilean Section of the Cape Horn Captains Brotherhood. Due to severe winds characteristic of the region, the sculpture was blown over in 2014. A 2019 research expedition found the world's southernmost tree growing, a Magellan's beech mostly bent to the ground, on a northeast-facing slope at the island's southeast corner. Cape Horn is the southern limit of the range of the
Magellanic penguin The Magellanic penguin (''Spheniscus magellanicus'') is a South American penguin, breeding in coastal Patagonia, including Argentina, Chile, and the Falkland Islands, with some bird migration, migrating to Brazil and Uruguay, where they are occas ...
.


Climate

The climate in the region is generally cool, owing to the southern latitude. There are no weather stations in the group of islands including Cape Horn; but a study in 1882–1883, found an annual rainfall of , with an average annual temperature of . Winds were reported to average , (5  Bf), with squalls of over , (10 Bf) occurring in all seasons. There are 278 days of rainfall. (70 days snow) and of annual rainfall. Cloud coverage is generally extensive, with averages from 5.2 eighths in May and July to 6.4 eighths in December and January. Precipitation is high throughout the year: the weather station on the nearby
Diego Ramírez Islands The Diego Ramírez Islands () are a small group of Chilean subantarctic islands located at the southernmost extreme of South America. History The islands were sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, and named a ...
, south-west in the Drake Passage, shows the greatest rainfall in March, averaging ; while October, which has the least rainfall, still averages . Wind conditions are generally severe, particularly in winter. In summer, the wind at Cape Horn is
gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .
force up to 5 percent of the time, with generally good visibility; however, in winter, gale-force winds occur up to 30 percent of the time, often with poor visibility. Many stories are told of hazardous journeys "around the Horn", most describing fierce storms.
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 â€“ 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
wrote: "One sight of such a coast is enough to make a landsman dream for a week about shipwrecks, peril and death." Being the southernmost point of land outside of Antarctica, the region experiences barely 7 hours of daylight during the June solstice, with Cape Horn itself having 6 hours and 57 minutes. The region experiences around hours of daylight during the December solstice, and experiences only
nautical twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surfac ...
from civil dusk to civil dawn.
White nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held in ...
occur during the week around the December solstice. Cape Horn yields a
polar climate The polar climate regions are characterized by a lack of warm summers but with varying winters. Every month a polar climate has an average temperature of less than . Regions with a polar climate cover more than 20% of the Earth's area. Most of ...
('' ET''), with abundant precipitation—much of which falls as sleet and snow.


Political

Cape Horn is part of the Commune of
Cabo de Hornos Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Ãguila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...
, whose capital is
Puerto Williams Puerto Williams (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Port Williams") is a city, port and naval base on Navarino Island in Chile. It faces the Beagle Channel. It is the Capital city, capital of Antártica Chilena Province, the Chilean Antarctic Provin ...
; this in turn is part of
Antártica Chilena Province Antártica Chilena Province () is the southernmost of the four Provinces of Chile, provinces in Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region (XII). The capital is Puerto Williams. The province comprises ...
, whose capital is also Puerto Williams. The area is part of the
Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region The Magallanes Region (), officially the Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region () or Magallanes and the Chilean Antarctica Region in English, is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It is the southernmost, largest, and sec ...
of Chile.
Puerto Toro Puerto Toro is a hamlet on the eastern coast of Navarino Island, Chile. Puerto Toro was founded in 1892 during the Tierra del Fuego Gold Rush by Governor of Punta Arenas Señoret.Bascopé Julio, JoaquínSENTIDOS COLONIALES I. EL ORO Y LA VIDA SAL ...
, a few miles south of Puerto Williams, is the closest town to the cape.


Modern navigation

Many modern tankers are too wide to fit through the Panama Canal, as are a few passenger ships and several aircraft carriers. But there are no regular commercial routes around the Horn, and modern ships carrying cargo are rarely seen. However, a number of
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...
s routinely round the Horn when traveling from one ocean to the other. These often stop in Ushuaia or
Punta Arenas Punta Arenas (, historically known as Sandy Point in English) is the capital List of cities in Chile, city of Chile's southernmost Regions of Chile, region, Magallanes Region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. Although officially renamed as ...
as well as Port Stanley. Some of the small passenger vessels shuttling between Ushuaia and the
Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...
will pass the Horn too, time and weather permitting.


Sailing routes

A number of potential sailing routes may be followed around the tip of South America. The
Strait of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natura ...
, between the mainland and Tierra del Fuego, is a major—although narrow—passage, which was in use for trade well before the Horn was discovered. The
Beagle Channel Beagle Channel (; Yahgan language, Yahgan: ''Onašaga'') is a strait in the Tierra del Fuego, Tierra del Fuego Archipelago, on the extreme southern tip of South America between Chile and Argentina. The channel separates the larger main island of I ...
(named for the ship of Charles Darwin's expedition), between Tierra del Fuego and Isla Navarino, offers a potential, though difficult route. Other passages may be taken around the Wollaston and Hermite Islands to the north of Cape Horn. All of these, however, are notorious for treacherous ''
williwaw In meteorology, a williwaw (archaic spelling williwau) is a sudden blast of wind descending from a mountainous coast to the sea. The word is of unknown origin, but was earliest used by British seamen in the 19th century. The usage appears for win ...
'' winds, which can strike a vessel with little or no warning; given the narrowness of these routes, vessels have a significant risk of being driven onto the rocks. The open waters of the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn, provide by far the widest route, at about wide; this passage offers ample sea room for maneuvering as winds change, and is the route used by most ships and sailboats, despite the possibility of extreme wave conditions.''Perilous Cape Horn''
, by P.J. Gladnick; from eSsortment, 2002. Retrieved January 19, 2012.


"Rounding" vs "Doubling" the Horn

Rounding Cape Horn can be done on a day trip by helicopter or more arduously by charter power boat or sailboat, or by cruise ship. "Doubling the Horn" is traditionally understood to involve sailing from a point above
50 degrees South Following are circles of latitude between the 45th parallel south and the 50th parallel south: 46th parallel south The 46th parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 46 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlant ...
in the Pacific around the Horn to a point above 50 degrees South in the Atlantic, and then sailing back against the prevailing westerly winds to a point above the 50th parallel south again back in the Pacific—a considerably more difficult and time-consuming endeavor having a minimum length of for each leg . The 50th parallel south on both coasts of South America represent a set of benchmark latitudes of a Horn run, and is a region of the ocean that according to
Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 â€“ September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...
, "takes the conceit out of fresh-water sailors, and steeps in a still saltier brine the saltiest".


Shipping hazards

Several factors combine to make the passage around Cape Horn one of the most hazardous shipping routes in the world: the fierce sailing conditions prevalent in the Southern Ocean generally; the geography of the passage south of the Horn; and the extreme southern latitude of the Horn, at 56° south (for comparison,
Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; , "Cape of Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of Africa and the beginning of the traditional dividing line between the Atlantic and Indian oceans according to the In ...
at the southern tip of Africa is at 35° south;
Stewart Island / Rakiura Stewart Island (, 'Aurora, glowing skies', officially Stewart Island / Rakiura, formerly New Leinster) is New Zealand's third-largest island, located south of the South Island, across Foveaux Strait. It is a roughly triangular island wit ...
at the south end of
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
is 47° south;
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
56° north). The
prevailing winds In meteorology, prevailing wind in a region of the Earth's surface is a surface wind that blows predominantly from a particular Wind direction, direction. The dominant winds are the trends in direction of wind with the highest speed over a partic ...
in latitudes below 40° south can blow from west to east around the world almost uninterrupted by land, giving rise to the "
roaring forties The Roaring Forties are strong westerlies, westerly winds that occur in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40th parallel south, 40° and 50th parallel south, 50° south. The strong eastward air currents are caused by ...
" and the even more wild "furious fifties" and "screaming sixties". These winds are hazardous enough that ships traveling east would tend to stay in the northern part of the forties (i.e. not far below 40° south latitude); however, rounding Cape Horn requires ships to press south to 56° south latitude, well into the zone of fiercest winds. These winds are exacerbated at the Horn by the funneling effect of the
Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...
and the
Antarctic Peninsula The Antarctic Peninsula, known as O'Higgins Land in Chile and Tierra de San Martin in Argentina, and originally as Graham Land in the United Kingdom and the Palmer Peninsula in the United States, is the northernmost part of mainland Antarctica. ...
, which channel the winds into the relatively narrow Drake Passage. The strong winds of the Southern Ocean give rise to correspondingly large waves; these waves can attain great height as they roll around the Southern Ocean, free of any interruption from land. South of the Horn, however, these waves encounter an area of shallow water, which has the effect of making the waves shorter and steeper, greatly increasing the hazard to ships. If the strong eastward current through the Drake Passage encounters an opposing westerly wind, this can have the effect of further building up the waves. In addition to these "normal" waves, the area west of the Horn is particularly notorious for
rogue wave A rogue wave is an abnormally large ocean wave. Rogue wave may also refer to: * Optical rogue waves, are rare pulses of light analogous to rogue or freak ocean waves. * Rogue Wave Software, a software company * Rogue Wave (band), an American in ...
s, which can attain heights of up to . The prevailing winds and currents create particular problems for vessels trying to round the Horn against them, i.e. from east to west. This was a particularly serious problem for traditional sailing ships, which could make very little headway against the wind at the best of times; modern sailing boats are significantly more efficient to windward and can more reliably make a westward passage of the Horn, as they do in the ''
Global Challenge The Global Challenge (not to be confused with Global Challenge Award) was around a world yacht race run by Challenge Business, the company started by Sir Chay Blyth in 1989. It was held every four years and took a fleet of one-design steel yachts, ...
'' race. Ice is a hazard to sailors venturing far below 40° south. Although the ice limit dips south around the horn,
icebergs An iceberg is a piece of fresh water ice more than long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". Much of an ic ...
are a significant hazard for vessels in the area. In the South Pacific in February (summer in Southern Hemisphere), icebergs are generally confined to below 50° south; but in August the iceberg hazard can extend north of 40° south. Even in February, the Horn is well below the latitude of the iceberg limit. These hazards have made the Horn notorious as perhaps the most dangerous ship passage in the world; many ships have been wrecked, and many sailors have died attempting to round the Cape.


Lighthouses

Two
lighthouses A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...
are located near or in Cape Horn. The one located in the Chilean Navy Station is the more accessible and visited, and is commonly referred to as ''the'
Cape Horn lighthouse
. However, the Chilean Navy station, including the lighthouse ( ARLS CHI-030, ) and the memorial, are not located on Cape Horn (which is difficult to access either by land or sea), but on another land point about one mile east-northeast. On Cape Horn proper is a smaller fiberglass light tower, with a focal plane of and a range of about . This is the authentic Cape Horn lighthouse ( ARLS CHI-006, ), and as such the world's southernmost traditional lighthouse. A few minor
aids to navigation A navigational aid (NAVAID), also known as aid to navigation (ATON), is any sort of signal, markers or guidance equipment which aids the traveler in navigation, usually nautical or aviation travel. Common types of such aids include lighthouses, ...
are located farther south, including one in the
Diego Ramírez Islands The Diego Ramírez Islands () are a small group of Chilean subantarctic islands located at the southernmost extreme of South America. History The islands were sighted on 12 February 1619 by the Spanish Garcia de Nodal expedition, and named a ...
and several in Antarctica.


Recreational and sport sailing

Despite the opening of the
Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
and Panama Canals, the Horn remains part of the fastest sailing route around the world, and so the growth in recreational long-distance sailing has brought about a revival of sailing via the Horn. Owing to the remoteness of the location and the hazards there, a rounding of Cape Horn is widely considered to be the yachting equivalent of climbing Mount Everest, and so many sailors seek it for its own sake.
Joshua Slocum Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 – on or shortly after November 14, 1909) was the first person to sail single-handedly around the world. He was a Nova Scotian-born, naturalised American seaman and adventurer, and a noted writer. In 1900 he w ...
was the first single-handed yachtsman to successfully pass this way (in 1895) although in the end, extreme weather forced him to use some of the inshore routes between the channels and islands and it is believed he did not actually pass outside the Horn proper. If one had to go by strict definitions, the first small boat to sail around outside Cape Horn was the Irish
yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...
''Saoirse'', sailed by Conor O'Brien with three friends, who rounded it during a circumnavigation of the world between 1923 and 1925. In 1934, the Norwegian
Al Hansen Alfred Earl "Al" Hansen (5 October 1927 – 20 June 1995) was an American artist. He was a member of Fluxus, a movement that originated on an artists' collective around George Maciunas. He was the father of Andy Warhol protégé Bibbe Ha ...
was the first to round Cape Horn single-handed from east to west—the "wrong way"—in his boat ''Mary Jane'', but was subsequently wrecked on the coast of Chile. The first person to successfully circumnavigate the world single-handed via Cape Horn was Argentinian
Vito Dumas Vito Dumas (Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 26, 1900 – March 28, 1965) was a prominent Argentine solo sailor and adventurer, known for his remarkable achievements in long-distance single-handed sailing. Dumas excelled in various fields, incl ...
, who made the voyage in 1942 in his
ketch A ketch is a two- masted sailboat whose mainmast is taller than the mizzen mast (or aft-mast), and whose mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post. The mizzen mast stepped forward of the rudder post is what distinguishes the ketch f ...
''
Lehg II ''Lehg II'' is a ketch that was sailed around the world in 1942 by Argentine Vito Dumas. The name ''Lehg'' was based on the initials of "four names which marked my life", according to Dumas. History Dumas sailed easterly from Buenos Aires, aro ...
''; a number of other sailors have since followed him, including
Webb Chiles Webb Chiles (born 1941), born Webb Tedford, is an American sailor and author noted for his offshore sailing. He has completed six circumnavigations, several of them single-handed, and is the author of seven books. Early life Webb Chiles was ...
aboard "" who in December 1975 rounded Cape Horn single-handed. On March 31, 2010, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland became the youngest person to single-handedly sail around Cape Horn in her attempt to circumnavigate the globe. In 1987 The British Cape Horn Expedition, headed by
Nigel H. Seymour Nigel ( ) is an English masculine given name. The English ''Nigel'' is found in records dating from the Middle Ages; however, it was not used much before being revived by 19th-century antiquarians. For instance, Walter Scott published ''The Fo ...
, rounded Cape Horn in the world's first ever 'sailing kayaks', called 'Kaymaran'; two seagoing kayaks which could link together with two sails mountable in any of the four sailing positions between the two kayaks. Today, there are several major yacht races held regularly along the old clipper route via Cape Horn. The first of these was the ''
Sunday Times Golden Globe Race The ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race was a non-stop, single-handed, round-the-world yacht race, held in 1968–1969, and was the first non-stop round-the-world yacht race. The race was controversial due to the failure of most competitors t ...
'', which was a single-handed race; this inspired the present-day '' Around Alone'' race, which circumnavigates with stops, and the ''
Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop, unassisted round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendé ...
'', which is non-stop. Both of these are single-handed races, and are held every four years. The ''
Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Rac ...
'' is a crewed race with stops which sails the clipper route every four years. Its origins lie in the ''
Whitbread Round the World Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Ra ...
'' first competed in 1973–74. The
Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding t ...
is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht, with no restrictions on the size of the crew (no assistance, non-stop). Finally, the ''Global Challenge'' race goes around the world the "wrong way", from east to west, which involves rounding Cape Horn against the prevailing winds and currents. The Horn remains a major hazard for recreational sailors, however. A classic case is that of
Miles and Beryl Smeeton Miles Smeeton (1906–1988) and Beryl Smeeton (1905–1979) were an outstanding couple of travellers, pioneers, explorers, mountaineers, cruising sailors, recipients of numerous sailing awards, farmers, prolific authors, wildlife conservationist ...
, who attempted to round the Horn in their yacht ''Tzu Hang''. Hit by a rogue wave when approaching the Horn, the boat pitchpoled (i.e. somersaulted end-over-end). They survived, and were able to make repairs in
Talcahuano Talcahuano () (From Mapudungun ''Tralkawenu'', "Thundering Sky") is a port city and commune in the Biobío Region of Chile. It is part of the Greater Concepción conurbation. Talcahuano is located in the south of the Central Zone of Chile. ...
, Chile, and later attempted the passage again, only to be rolled over and dismasted for a second time by another rogue wave, which again they miraculously survived.


History


Discovery by Europeans

In 1526 the Spanish vessel the ''San Lesmes'' commanded by
Francisco de Hoces Francisco de Hoces (died 1526) was a Spanish sailor who in 1525 joined the Loaísa Expedition to the Spice Islands as commander of the vessel ''San Lesmes''. In January 1526, the ''San Lesmes'' was blown by a gale southwards from the eastern m ...
, member of the
Loaísa expedition The Loaísa expedition was an early 16th-century Spanish voyage of discovery to the Pacific Ocean, commanded by (1490 – 20 July 1526) and ordered by King Charles I of Spain to colonize the Spice Islands in the East Indies. The seven-ship fleet ...
, was blown south by a gale in front of the Atlantic end of
Magellan Strait The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural ...
and reached Cape Horn, passing through 56° S where "they thought to see Land's End." Since the discovery, the sea separating South America from
Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...
bears the name of its discoverer in Spanish sources. It appears as ''Mar de Hoces'' (Sea of Hoces) in most Spanish-language maps. In English charts however it is named the
Drake Passage The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn, Chile, Argentina, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean (Scotia Sea) with the southeastern part of the Pa ...
. In September 1578, Sir
Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
, in the course of his circumnavigation of the world, passed through the Strait of Magellan into the Pacific Ocean. Before he could continue his voyage north his ships encountered a storm, and were blown well to the south of
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South America, South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main is ...
. The expanse of open water they encountered led Drake to guess that far from being another continent, as previously believed, Tierra del Fuego was an island with open sea to its south. This discovery went unused for some time, as ships continued to use the known passage through the Strait of Magellan. By the early 17th century the
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
was given a monopoly on all Dutch trade via the
Straits of Magellan The Strait of Magellan (), also called the Straits of Magellan, is a navigable sea route in southern Chile separating mainland South America to the north and the Tierra del Fuego archipelago to the south. Considered the most important natural ...
and the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
, the only known sea routes at the time to the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
. To search for an alternate route and one to the unknown ''Terra Australis'',
Isaac Le Maire Isaac Le Maire (c. 1558 in Antwerp – September 20, 1624 in Egmond aan den Hoef) was a Dutch entrepreneur, investor, and a sizeable shareholder of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He is best known for his constant strife with the VOC, ...
, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant and
Willem Schouten Willem Cornelisz Schouten (1625) was a Dutch navigator for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first to sail the Cape Horn route to the Pacific Ocean. Biography Willem Cornelisz Schouten was born around 1567 in Hoorn, Holland, Seve ...
, a ship's master of Hoorn, contributed in equal shares to the enterprise, with additional financial support from merchants of Hoorn.
Jacob Le Maire Jacob Le Maire (c. 1585 – 22 December 1616) was a Dutch mariner who circumnavigated the Earth in 1615 and 1616. The strait between Tierra del Fuego and Isla de los Estados was named the Le Maire Strait in his honour, though not without contro ...
, Isaac's son, went on the journey as "chiefe Marchant and principall factor," in charge of trading aspects of the endeavour. The two ships that departed Holland at the beginning of June 1615 were the ''Eendracht'' of 360 tons with Schouten and Le Maire aboard, and the ''Hoorn'' of 110 tons, of which Schouten's brother Johan was master. It was ''Eendracht'' then, with the crew of the recently wrecked ''Hoorn'' aboard, that passed through the
Le Maire Strait The Le Maire Strait (; ), also known as the Straits Lemaire, is a strait between Isla de los Estados ("Staten Island") and the eastern extremity of the Argentine portion of Tierra del Fuego. History Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten discov ...
and Schouten and Le Maire made their great discovery: :"In the evening 25 January 1616 the winde was South West, and that night wee went South with great waves or billowes out of the southwest, and very blew water, whereby wee judged, and held for certaine that ... it was the great South Sea, whereat we were exceeding glad to thinke that wee had discovered a way, which until that time, was unknowne to men, as afterward wee found it to be true."''The Relation'', pp. 22–23 :"... on 29 January 1616 we saw land againe lying north west and north northwest from us, which was the land that lay South from the straights of Magelan which reacheth Southward, all high hillie lande covered over with snow, ending with a sharpe point which wee called Cape Horne aap Hoorn..." At the time it was discovered, the Horn was believed to be the southernmost point of Tierra del Fuego; the unpredictable violence of weather and sea conditions in the Drake Passage made exploration difficult, and it was only in 1624 that the Horn was discovered to be an island. It is a telling testament to the difficulty of conditions there that Antarctica, only away across the Drake Passage, was discovered only as recently as 1820, despite the passage having been used as a major shipping route for 200 years.


Historic trade route

From the 18th to the early 20th centuries, Cape Horn was a part of the clipper routes which carried much of the world's trade.
Sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...
s sailed round the Horn carrying wool, grain, and gold from Australia back to Europe; these included the
windjammer A windjammer is a commercial sailing ship with multiple masts, however rigged. The informal term "windjammer" arose during the transition from the Age of Sail to the Age of Steam during the 19th century. The Oxford English Dictionary records t ...
s in the heyday of the Great Grain Race of the 1930s. Much trade was carried around the Horn between Europe and the Far East; and trade and passenger ships travelled between the coasts of the United States via the Horn. The Horn exacted a heavy toll from shipping, however, owing to the extremely hazardous combination of conditions there. The only facilities in the vicinity able to service or supply a ship, or provide medical care, were in the
Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; ), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and from Cape Dub ...
. The businesses there were so notorious for price-gouging that damaged ships were sometimes abandoned at
Port Stanley Stanley (also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a population o ...
. While most companies switched to steamers and later used the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
, German steel-hulled sailing ships like the Flying P-Liners were designed since the 1890s to withstand the weather conditions around the Horn, as they specialized in the South American nitrate trade and later the Australian
grain trade The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat, barley, maize, rice, and other food grains. Grain is an important trade item because it is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agri ...
. None of them were lost travelling around the Horn, but some, like the mighty '' Preußen'', were victims of collisions in the busy English Channel. Traditionally, a sailor who had rounded the Horn was entitled to wear a gold loop earring—in the left ear, the one which had faced the Horn in a typical eastbound passage—and to dine with one foot on the table; a sailor who had also rounded the
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
could place both feet on the table. One particular historic attempt to round the Horn, that of HMS ''Bounty'' in 1788, has been immortalized in history due to the subsequent
Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the ''Bounty'' occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship, , from their captain, Lieutenant (navy), Lieutenant William Bli ...
. This abortive Horn voyage has been portrayed (with varying historical accuracy) in three major motion pictures about Captain
William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...
's mission to transport breadfruit plants from Tahiti to Jamaica. The Bounty made only 85 miles of headway in 31 days of east-to-west sailing, before giving up by reversing course and going around Africa. Although the 1984 movie portrayed another decision to go round the Horn as a precipitating factor in the mutiny (this time west-to-east after collecting the breadfruits in the South Pacific), in fact that was never contemplated out of concern for the effect of the low temperatures near the Horn on the plants. The
transcontinental railroads A transcontinental railroad or transcontinental railway is contiguous railroad trackage that crosses a continental land mass and has terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Such networks may be via the tracks of a single railroad ...
in North America, as well as the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
that opened in 1914 in Central America, led to the gradual decrease in use of the Horn for trade. As
steamships A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
replaced sailing ships, Flying P-Liner '' Pamir'' became the last commercial sailing ship to round Cape Horn laden with cargo, carrying grain from Port Victoria, Australia, to Falmouth, England, in 1949.


Literature and culture

Cape Horn has been an icon of sailing culture for centuries; it has featured in
sea shanties A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...
and in many books about sailing. One of the classic accounts of a working ship in the age of sail is ''
Two Years Before the Mast ''Two Years Before the Mast'' is a memoir by the American author Richard Henry Dana Jr., published in 1840, having been written after a two-year sea voyage from Boston to California on a merchant ship starting in 1834. A Two Years Before the Mast ...
'', by
Richard Henry Dana Jr. Richard Henry Dana Jr. (August 1, 1815 – January 6, 1882) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts, a descendant of a colonial family, who gained renown as the author of the classic American memoir ''Two Years Before the Mast'' a ...
, in which the author describes an arduous trip from Boston to California via Cape Horn: After nine more days of headwinds and unabated storms, Dana reported that his ship, the "Pilgrim" finally cleared the turbulent waters of Cape Horn and turned northwards.
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 â€“ 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, in ''The Voyage of the Beagle'', a
journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...
of the five-year expedition upon which he based ''
The Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life'')The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by M ...
'', described his 1832 encounter with the Horn: William Jones, writing of his experience in 1905 as a fifteen-year-old apprentice on one of the last commercial sailing ships, noted the contrast between his ship, which would take two months and the lives of three sailors to round the Horn, and birds adapted to the region:
Alan Villiers Alan John Villiers, DSC (23 September 1903 – 3 March 1982) was a writer, adventurer, photographer and mariner. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Villiers first went to sea at age 15 and sailed on board traditionally rigged vessels, including t ...
, a modern-day expert in traditional sailing ships, wrote many books about traditional sailing, including ''By way of Cape Horn''. More recent sailors have taken on the Horn singly, such as
Vito Dumas Vito Dumas (Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 26, 1900 – March 28, 1965) was a prominent Argentine solo sailor and adventurer, known for his remarkable achievements in long-distance single-handed sailing. Dumas excelled in various fields, incl ...
, who wrote ''Alone Through The Roaring Forties'' based on his round-the-world voyage; or with small crews.
Bernard Moitessier Bernard Moitessier (April 10, 1925 – June 16, 1994) was a French sailor, most notable for his participation in the 1968 ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race, the first non-stop, singlehanded, round the world yacht race. With the fastest circumn ...
made two significant voyages round the Horn; once with his wife Françoise, described in ''Cape Horn: The Logical Route'', and once single-handed. His book ''The Long Way'' tells the story of this latter voyage, and of a peaceful night-time passage of the Horn: "The little cloud underneath the moon has moved to the right. I look... there it is, so close, less than away and right under the moon. And nothing remains but the sky and the moon playing with the Horn. I look. I can hardly believe it. So small and so huge. A hillock, pale and tender in the moonlight; a colossal rock, hard as diamond."
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer. He was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate from 1930 until his death in 1967, during which time he lived at Burcot, Oxfordshire, near Abingdon ...
wrote: "Cape Horn, that tramples beauty into wreck / And crumples steel and smites the strong man dumb." A memorial presented in
Robert FitzRoy Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) was an English officer of the Royal Navy, politician and scientist who served as the second governor of New Zealand between 1843 and 1845. He achieved lasting fame as the captain of ...
's bicentenary (2005) commemorates his landing on Cape Horn on 19 April 1830. Canadian singer-songwriter
Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...
wrote a song entitled "Ghosts of Cape Horn". In 1980 Keith F. Critchlow directed and produced the
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
"Ghosts of Cape Horn", with the participation and archaeological consulting of famous underwater archaeologist
Peter Throckmorton Edgerton Alvord Throckmorton (July 30, 1928 – June 5, 1990), known as Peter Throckmorton, was an American photojournalist and a pioneer underwater archaeologist. He is best remembered for fusing academia, archaeometry, and diving in 1960 to cre ...
.


Further reading

* ''Around Cape Horn: A Maritime Artist/Historian's Account of His 1892 Voyage'', by Charles G. Davis and Neal Parker. Down East Books, 2004. * ''Cape Horn. A Maritime History'', by Robin Knox-Johnston. London Hodder&Stoughton * ''Cape Horn: The Story of the Cape Horn Region'', by Felix Riesenberg and William A. Briesemeister. Ox Bow Press, 1994. * ''Cape Horn and Other Stories From the End of the World'', by Francisco Coloane. Latin American Literary Review Press, 2003. * ''Gipsy Moth Circles the World'', Sir Francis Chichester; International Marine, 2001. * ''Haul Away! Teambuilding Lessons from a Voyage around Cape Horn'', by Rob Duncan. Authorhouse, 2005. * ''Rounding the Horn: Being the Story of Williwaws and Windjammers, Drake, Darwin, Murdered Missionaries and Naked Natives – A Deck's-Eye View of Cape Horn'', by Dallas Murphy. Basic Books, 2004. * ''En el Mar Austral'', by Fray Mocho. University of Buenos Aires Press (La Serie del Siglo y Medio), 1960. An incredible account of the southern tip of South American by an Argentine Journalist. * ''High Endeavours'', by Miles Clark. Greystone, 2002. An account of the lives of the author's god-father Miles Smeeton, and his wife Beryl, including a couple of spectacular trips to the Horn. * '' A world of my Own'' by Robin Knox-Johnston. An account of the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world via Cape Horn between 1968 and 1969. * ''Expediciones españolas al Estrecho de Magallanes y Tierra de fuego'', by Javier Oyarzun. Madrid: Ediciones Cultura Hispánica . * ''Storm Passage'' by Webb Chiles. Times Books * ''The Last of the Cape Horners. Firsthand Accounts from the Final Days of the Commercial Tall Ships'', edited by Spencer Apollonio. Washington, D.C.: Brassey's, Inc. 2000. *''The Cape Horn Breed'', by William H.S. Jones, 1956 *''The Log of a Limejuicer'', by James P. Barker, 1933


See also

* affecting the nearby
Picton, Lennox and Nueva Picton, Lennox and Nueva () form a group of three islands (and their islets) at the extreme southern tip of South America, in the Chilean commune of Cabo de Hornos in Antártica Chilena Province, Magallanes and Antártica Chilena Region. Loca ...
islands * * * , the Australian landmark on the clipper route * * , the second passing around Cape Horn * *
Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( ) is a rocky headland on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A List of common misconceptions#Geography, common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Afri ...
* Great capes


References

* The War with Cape Horn, by Alan Villiers. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons, 1971.


External links

* *
Guide: How to visit Cape Horn

International Association of Cape Horners

Chilean Brotherhood of Cape Horn Captains (Caphorniers)




– Chilean sculptor José Balcells' article (Spanish)
Robert FitzRoy's commemorative plaque in Horn Island (image)


– antique charts of the Cape Horn region

–
Ellen MacArthur Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is an English retired sailor and charity founder. MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman – on 7 February 2005, she broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnaviga ...
's rendezvous at Cabo de Hornos
Satellite image and infopoints
on BlooSee {{coord, 55, 58, 48, S, 67, 17, 21, W, region:CL_type:isle, display=title Extreme points of Earth Landforms of Magallanes Region
Horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...
Landforms of Tierra del Fuego Cliffs of Chile