All four boats are now in the Atlantic again
Image: Onboard Team Holcim - PRB. Drone view, Cape Horn in the background. © Julien Champolion | polaRYSE / Holcim - PRB / The Ocean Race
Team Malizia continues to head the leaderboard in leg 3 of The Ocean Race after leading the fleet around Cape Horn.
On Tuesday it was 11th Hour Racing Team (12:55 UTC) and Biotherm (15:25 UTC) who took their turn passing the iconic landmark and joining the exclusive list of offshore sailors to have rounded the Horn.
The fleet has really split in two now, with Malizia fighting to fend off overall race leader, Team Holcim-PRB and 11th Hour Racing Team holding a slim advantage over Biotherm, but both are nearly a day behind the leading pair.
"It is nice to still be fighting against Biotherm," said Justine Mettraux on 11th Hour Racing Team, who rounded Cape Horn for the first
"There are still 2,000 miles not go after the Cape to Itajaí so still a lot to play for. It is nice to have a bit softer winds, despite it meaning the leaders are moving away from us. We are back to full main, big sails, and trying to get the most of the wind we have at the moment, but they are pretty unstable conditions with a lot of clouds.
“It is cold, though! Hard to dry anything but nice, beautiful lights, birds again because we are getting close to shore. We are seeing more Albatrosses and Petrels which is nice.”
"It's been tough to have 11th Hour Racing pass us, but today is better - we're going to pass Cape Horn," Paul Meilhat said. "The boat is not 100% but it's not bad. We are really proud of the work we have done. One year ago we were putting layers in the boat mould and today we are racing past Cape Horn. Already this is a victory."
Nearly 400 miles north, Kevin Escoffier was getting back into race mode after celebrating his third rounding of the Horn.
"The main challenge is still to get to Itajai," he said. "The weather can change rapidly. Rather than looking for weather systems that move very quickly and that can change direction, we’d rather go on the northern route. Always protecting the boat and the crew."
Team Malizia join legends row with Roaring Forties Trophy win
The list of boats and skippers who have won the Roaring Forties Trophy is as good as it gets
When Team Malizia rounded Cape Horn with the lead in leg 3 of The Ocean Race, not only did they pass the iconic landmark with an important lead, but they added their names to a list of legends in winning the Roaring Forties Trophy.
The trophy is perhaps the most interesting in the race, forged from a series of ever larger oval silver shapes, it looks like it could be a broken spar from the early days of the Whitbread Round the World Race, and with an Albatross - the symbol of the Southern Ocean - flying above a tormented ocean.
According to author, photographer and sailing historian Barry Pickthall, the trophy was commissioned by the Royal Naval Sailing Association in 1973 for the boat setting the best time on handicap across the Southern Ocean from Cape Town to Cape Horn. in 1974 it was presented to Ramon Carlin, the skipper of the winning boat in the 1973-74 Whitbread Round the World Race, Sayula II.
Since the end of corrected time racing, the trophy is now awarded to the team with the fastest time between the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn.
Up until now, that has meant combining partial times on at least two race legs to get a result.
But in the 2022-23 edition of The Ocean Race, leg 3 is the longest in the history of the event, and for the first time the teams passed all three great Capes - Good Hope, Leeuwin, Horn - in one go.
In winning the Roaring Forties trophy, skipper Boris Herrmann adds his name and that of Team Malizia, to the impressive list of legends and icons who have previously won the trophy.
Malizia is the second German team - joining 2001-02 race winner illbruck - and Herrmann becomes the first German skipper, to claim the Roaring Forties Trophy.
Herrmann reflected on his fifth passage of the iconic Cape: "A short moment in the grey south but a big step for Team Malizia! It passes so quickly - we almost feel disturbed at first from our cocooned world that has settled upon us over the past weeks! The moment of cheering together to the camera arm in arm with this iconic rock behind releases a string of emotions for me and for all of us. The Horn looked beautiful today and after a few minutes it disappeared in the grey fog again! Back to our cocoon but elevated onto a new level."
Previous winners of The Roaring Forties Trophy:
1973-74 -- Sayula II - skipper, Ramón Carlin
1977-78 -- Flyer - skipper, Cornelis van Rietschoten
1981-82 -- Ceramco New Zealand - skipper, Peter Blake
1985-86 -- Philips Innovator - skipper, Dirk Nauta
1989-90 -- Steinlager 2 - skipper, Peter Blake
1993-94 -- Intrum Justitia - skipper, Lawrie Smith
1997-98 -- EF Language - skipper, Paul Cayard
2001-02 -- illbruck - skipper, John Kostecki
2005-06 -- ABN Amro One - skipper, Mike Sanderson
2008-09 -- Ericsson 4 - skipper, Torben Grael
2011-12 -- Groupama Sailing Team - skipper, Franck Cammas
2014-15 -- Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing - skipper, Ian Walker
2017-18 -- Dongfeng Racing Team - skipper, Charles Caudrelier
2022-23 -- Team Malizia - skipper, Boris Herrmann