Guirec Soudée

Although the sailor has already rounded this passage - both mythical and feared - twice in the “normal” direction (the first time with his late hen Monique, the second during the 2024/2025 Vendée Globe), this is the first time the skipper has done it the opposite way:

“That’s it, Cape Horn is behind me! First time rounding the Horn in this direction for me - and probably the last! But I’ll really celebrate in 3 or 4 days, because I’ve got some pretty strong systems coming at me, with 5-meter seas and very strong winds. I’ve got 33 knots right now, for example, and it’s going to build up to 40, 50 knots easily. So I haven’t really done the hardest part. But I’m very calm - this boat is really solid, I feel great on it, I’ve got it well in hand. Still, I can’t wait to get back to slightly nicer latitudes so I can catch my breath.”

For now, Guirec is the second solo sailor to round Cape Horn against the prevailing direction on an Ultim multihull (after Yves Le Blevec, who rounded it before his unfortunate capsize). The Breton skipper posts an elapsed time between Ouessant and Cape Horn of 21 days, 18 hours and 44 minutes - compared with 32 days, 11 hours and 50 minutes for Jean-Luc Van Den Heede aboard his monohull Adrien in 2004.