"It was very bumpy and uncomfortable all night along the coast of Chile. There was a lot of wind and a huge sea. The waves were so big that we had the impression of dropping into a big hole every time we went over the peak of a wave," exclaimed Jean-Pierre this morning. "We are exhausted because we manoeuvred a lot to get to Cape Horn. Last night, Damian was very excited by the passage of the Horn. This morning, he fell down in his bunk and he's sleeping very deeply now. I am very tired too but we are both very happy!
"It is really nice to cross Cape Horn this morning. It was dark but we saw the Cape and its lights - massive shadow in the dark, a huge Cape. We can see the way back home! now, and that is a great feeling. We are going to celebrate this with a taste of some French Champagne for me and some Irish Whiskey for Damian. We have closed the door on the southern ocean."
Paprec-Virbac 2 rounded the Horn just over 1000 miles ahead of Hugo Boss, although by this afternoon, that lead was down to just over 980 miles. Both Damian and Jean-Pierre sounded exhausted, saying that they'd only been able to grab very short snatches of sleep over the past 48 hours.
Behind, Hugo Boss is sailing very fast in bumpy conditions, and closing in on Cape Horn themselves. It will be a weekend passage for Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape, likely Saturday night, European time.
barcelonaworldrace.org
The honour of being first around Cape Horn in the Barcelona World Race goes to Paprec-Virbac 2 who left the fabled cape on their port side at 06:20 GMT this morning, moving from the tough Southern Ocean into the South Atlantic. With Cape Horn in their wake, and a 1000 mile lead, skippers Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall can celebrate this latest milestone, while remaining aware that some 6700 miles remain before the finish line in Barcelona.