Ellen Rounds The Horn In Record Time: Little Mac crossed the longitude of Cape Horn early this morning, setting a jaw dropping new solo record from the English Channel to the Horn of 44 days 23 hours 36 minutes. That beats Joyon’s already incredible solo record by a whopping 4 days 2 hours and 25 minutes. Holy hell. Read the report here, and you’ll see that it was no cruise on a lake. Winds a steady 40-50 knots, with gusts up to 60 knots. Massive boat-breaking seas with lots of white water. Ellen was in total survival mode, dropping the mainsail and running under a small staysail alone (just like Francis Chichester) AND STILL DOING 30 KNOTS IN THE SURFS! Ellen was so wiped by the whole experience that she was actually in her bunk at the moment she officially passed the Horn. She had barely enough energy to make a brief call to her shore team. Here’s what she had to say: “Cold, tired and buggered, basically. Passing the Horn right now and I’m in my bunk, have been asleep.” Earlier the wildness of the scene had inspired a little poetry in an email:

“We are sailing in 30 to 40 knots right now, and getting very close to our gybe just 45 miles off the coast off western Chile. The seas are monstrous, and as i stand in B&Q’s cockpit i cannot feel that i shall miss this wild and wonderful place.. somehow the south finds places inside you that you were unaware you had, it conjours up the most vivid memories, shows you the most unbelievable and breathtaking sights.. Behind B&Q there is a rain filled squall – but from behind peepes the setting sun.. the light beams out a rich powerful, dominant orange over the grey darkness of the clouds – it lights the spray flying from the crests of the waves, giving them a delicate, almost furry texture.. how can such a powerful 40 foot wave be so delicate…? As the light gets behind a breaking wave it seems to lift the crest higher.. the striking turquoise colour seems as if it’s artificially illuminted from another source – such brilliant colour in an otherwise grey blue sea… A lone albatross circles ahead.. how many passing ships has he seen i ask… a tear comes to my eye – beacuse the albatross we see on this voyage are now numbered, their gracful effortless flight, and constant companionship will have to reamain etched in my mind till the next time…”

Ellen will stay in storm conditions for another few hours, until she can gybe and head north. She did manage to send in some great video (no wonder she’s so knackered; it also explains why she’s such good value for sponsors). Click here to watch her ride her 75-foot tri like a bronco and make a champagne toast to Cape Horn (nice French, too). Click here to see what sort of seas are chasing her. And click here to hear and see a modern racing tri slicing through big seas. Really nice stuff. She’s got 7,000 miles to go. The Southern Ocean leg is all about staying alive. The final Atlantic leg is all about keeping the boat together. Stay tuned…



Southern Ocean Farewell: “I’m so damn happy to be leaving this place, I think I’ll just pour this bubbly in…my ear.”