Tuesday, January 6, 2026 – Cape Horn gives the girls the green light to continue!
At 3:14 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, The Famous Project CIC’s Maxi Trimaran IDEC SPORT, led by its crew of Alexia Barrier, Dee Caffari, Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmür Hornell, Deborah Blair, Molly LaPointe, Támara Echegoyen, and Stacey Jackson, rounded Cape Horn.
On their 38th day of sailing and after covering nearly 16,000 miles (25,700 km), the sailors can now begin the final feat of their journey: crossing the vast Atlantic Ocean.
A relatively mild but demanding Pacific
Entering the Pacific at the longitude of Tasmania on December 26, the sailors of The Famous Project CIC took just under 11 days to reach Cape Horn, which was then 3,800 miles away. It was a fast crossing, marked by 48 hours of very heavy weather, with hellish seas and waves over 8 meters high, and winds gusting to over 50 knots.
Still struggling with the stubborn mainsail hook, the crew was sometimes forced to flee to take in or release reefs. It was a trans-Pacific crossing marked by consistency, with the maxi trimaran regularly covering more than 550 miles a day, on a route that was certainly very northern, but efficient and rational, skirting the violent depressions of the far south.
A third of the course still to cover…
More than 7,000 miles remain, representing one third of the race. Everyone on board is fully aware of this and, once the celebrations for passing under the famous rock are over, all minds will turn to the passage to State Island, the Falklands and the reunion with the arbiter of South Atlantic navigation, the Saint Helena high.
In the words of Alexia Barrier
“This passage is deeply challenging. It requires extreme preparation, constant vigilance, and total trust between the boat, the crew, and the elements. When you pass Cape Horn, you know that the hardest part is behind you. The Southern Seas, their isolation, their coldness, their constant intensity, forge sailors and teams. That doesn’t mean the rest is easy. Cape Horn is not a GPS point. It is a passing of the baton. Between the sailors of yesterday, those of today, and those who still dream. We don’t just “pass” through. We are allowed to continue. “
Excerpt from an article by The Famous Project CIC
Follow the adventure on IDEC SPORT’s social media and via the comprehensive map =>> https://trimaran-idec.geovoile.com/julesverne/2025/viewer/
