Calamity at Cape Horn
Way before the start of the Golden Globe Race on Sept. 4, 2022 in Les Sables d’Olonne, France the last stretch to Cape Horn was always a concern for Ian Herbert-Jones (GBR)
It became more of a worry for him in the South Atlantic when the Shropshire sailor thought of skipping the Cape Town film drop altogether to save time and make the January 31 Hobart gate cut-off date. Miss that gate and you must stop, as you are considered too late to round Cape Horn before early spring storms.
A Slow Start Caused the Trouble
Herbert-Jones just made Hobart by a few days in his 35’ Cutter Puffin, but later while heading east and a slow exit of the Tasman Sea, the weather conspired against him north of the Pacific exclusion zone, increasing his concerns about paying the price for a late rounding of Cape Horn.… and so it was!
Sailing for several days in what he described in his weekly satellite safety call as ‘biblical conditions’, he faced his worst fears: Extreme winds well over 60 knots, heavy and confused breaking seas, several knock downs with his hydrovane struggling to cope.
He nevertheless carried on, displaying his signature vulnerability, humility, humor and determination to get the job done. But on March 22 at 0400 UTC, Herbert-Jones called the Race Office to advise that the conditions were crazy, screaming wind speeds impossible to determine (Chilean Navy forecast possible gusts to 90 knots) and 7-metre seas.
Bare Poles
Sailing under bare poles, he was struggling to deploy his drogue which was now a tangled mess in the cockpit. One hour later, he had deployed the drogue and unfurled a small amount of staysail as the wind was finally abating.
However, at 1100 UTC he called back, sounding stressed, declaring a ‘PAN PAN’ and requesting GGR to notify MRCC of his situation, though NOT requiring assistance. He was unsure of his position and his hydrovane had another issue and was no longer working but in the dark he could not see why and it was dangerous hanging over the back.
GGR was providing weather updates and monitoring his track which was headed for the Diego Ramirez Islands. Sailing at only three knots under the drogue in seven metre seas, the bottom rapidly rose from 1,500 metres to just 100 metres in a few miles, causing some concern in Race Control. He reported serious waves slamming into the back of his Tradewind 35 PUFFIN.
New Troubles
He passed 2.5 miles north of the islands as conditions slowly moderated and daylight returned, but then rang a third time at 1810 UTC to advise that his drogue warp at some time had wrapped around the Hydrovane rudder whilst sailing slow in the big seas. It caused the initial damage and eventually the rudder snapped in half.
He could not fit his emergency electric autopilot as it steered through the Hydrovane rudder and it was too rough to fit his Hydrovane spare rudder. He was hand-steering to Cape Horn and beyond. He cannot do that for 6,000 miles back to Les Sables d’Olonne.
He is now headed for Puerto Williams about 150 miles away to effect repairs. He has been officially moved into Chichester Class (no longer in the rankings for the solo non-stop GGR) giving him full use of his safety GPS and sat phone to organize the stopover logistics.
Herbert-Jones is safe, in control and did not require assistance. The ‘Code Orange’ which alerts the Chilean Rescue Coordination Centre of a difficult situation, was cancelled on March 22 at 2200 UTC.
For more information about the Golder Globe Around the World Race, visit Scuttlebutt Sailing News…