Going around The Horn...

[sig22018]

Silly question but I am curious:

If the Horn is such a bad place to round then why did the sailors of old not steer waaay around it and not cut it close?

[n0w0rries]

I'm guessing the answer your looking for is ICE?

[mitiempo]

Drake Passage, the body of water south of Cape Horn, is only 500 miles wide. It has to be sailed pretty close. The Horn is at 56 degrees south and ice is a normal occurance not far to the south. Also the winds increase farther south, from the roaring 40s to the screaming 50s. The winds that march around the world from west to east in these latitudes are funneled through this narrow gap, made worse by the geography of the Andes range of South America. The sooner a ship can round the Horn and head a bit north the better. Gales are common, and frequent. It's not rare to have a gale 2 days after the last in this area. You can see how narrow Drake Passage is from the attachment below.
A sailor from the marina I live in, Paul Lim, arrived in Simonstown South Africa last week from South Georgia. His previous leg was from Puerto Montt Chile to South Georgia, rounding the Horn singlehanded from 50s to 50s in his Spencer 35 Kekuli. I don't know all the details yet but he had quite a good trip with no serious damage. Congratulations to Paul.

[sailingdog]

The Horn is bad, icebergs are worse... Steering way around the Horn is not an option due to geography, weather, and such factors.

Originally Posted by sig22018

Silly question but I am curious:

If the Horn is such a bad place to round then why did the sailors of old not steer waaay around it and not cut it close?

[JohnRPollard]

It's not the Horn that's difficult, it's the waters below it. The Horn is just an island off the southern tip of South America, that must be left to one side or the other while rounding.