Solo sailor Michel Kleinjans rounds Cape Horn - Portimao Ocean Race

by Oliver Dewar on 21 Mar 2009
Since 28th December when fellow Portimão Global Ocean Race solo sailor Nico Budel activated his EPIRB and subsequently abandoned his Open 40, Hayai, Michel Kleinjans has raced across two oceans entirely alone; physically alone on his 40ft yacht, Roaring Forty, but also in terms of direct, single-handed competition.

However, on Leg 3, Kleinjans kept pace with the double-handed teams, often exceeding their average speeds and keeping tucked-in with the pack as the fleet raced east above the Pacific Ocean southern limit at 45°S. After 18 days at sea, on March 10th, Roaring Forty dropped back to 96 miles behind the leading double-handed boat and today (20/03), Kleinjans rounded Cape Horn at 1425 GMT, only 291 miles behind the head of the fleet, Desafio Cabo de Hornos.

Like the rest of the Portimão Global Ocean Race competitors, Kleinjans has sailed into the record books for racing around Cape Horn in an event for 40ft boats. Furthermore, the Belgian yachtsman is the only remaining single-handed sailor in the fleet which underscores this immense achievement. It has been 40 years since Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and Lieutenant-Commander Nigel Tetley race solo around Cape Horn: Knox-Johnston on his 32ft ketch Suhaili and Tetley on his 40ft trimaran, Victress. It is in this pedigree of offshore legends that Kleinjans now belongs.

However, the final approach to Cape Horn was monumentally tough for Kleinjans: 'The Chileans had forecast 50-60 knots, but it wasn’t usually as hard as that to begin with,' he explained earlier. 'Even so, it was 40-50 knots and then we crossed the continental shelf and the waves got steeper and more confused. I was sailing with two reefs and it was OK and the pilot was under control.' During the night, though, the wind began to build and Cape Horn delivered nightmare conditions. 'It got to be always at 50 knots, but we seemed alright so I went to my bunk with the boat slamming into the waves. The next thing I know, I wake up and everything in the boat is on top of me.' Roaring Forty had been thrown onto her side at 56°S in freezing waters. 'We had just collided into a wave and stopped completely, going straight into a broach.' Fortunately, the Open 40 righted swiftly. 'We weren’t down for very long and the boat came up quickly. There really wasn’t time to be scared.'

Recovering quickly, Kleinjans hand steered for the remaining five hours to the cape, making a close inspection of the infamous landmark. 'I think I was about three and half miles off,' he confirms. 'I really wanted to have a good look so I don’t have to come back again,' the Belgian sailor admitted, laughing. 'There were moments when I could see the cape clearly, then a squall would come through and it would disappear and I couldn’t see anything.' After 27 days at sea in the Southern Ocean without a glimpse of land, the cape didn’t disappoint. 'It was good to see it, but the time leading up to it was the scariest night of my life,' he states emphatically. 'By far the worst weather of the whole race so far.'

In the latest, 1800 GMT (20/03) position poll, Kleinjans has left Cape Horn 40 miles behind in his wake with the mouth of La Maire Strait 90 miles north-east of Roaring Forty. 'I’m just about to have a look at the tides,' confirmed Kleinjans. 'Then, I plan to go west of the Falklands.' Currently averaging 10 knots in around 23 knots of north-westerly breeze, Roaring Forty should reach the southern entrance towards dusk today.

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