The Cape Horners' Club

Tales of Triumph and Disaster at the World's Most Feared Cape

Nonfiction, Sports, Water Sports, Sailing, Boating, Fiction & Literature
Cover of the book The Cape Horners' Club by Mr Adrian Flanagan, Bloomsbury Publishing
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Mr Adrian Flanagan ISBN: 9781472912534
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Publication: April 20, 2017
Imprint: Adlard Coles Language: English
Author: Mr Adrian Flanagan
ISBN: 9781472912534
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication: April 20, 2017
Imprint: Adlard Coles
Language: English

Cape Horn's fearsome reputation and the price it has extacted from those who venture there derives from a lethal contrivance of geography that unleashes the most powerful natural dynamic forces on the earth's surface. Reaching deep into the Southern Ocean, the Cape intrudes into the flow of the water and weather patterns at the bottom of the world and funnels them into a maritime superhighway a mere 500 miles wide, building massive seas and accelerating wind speeds to hurricane strength. Currents rip at rates that defeat powerful engines.

These legendarily treacherous conditions were enough to secure Cape Horn's reputation as the ultimate in ocean violence; the supreme test of sailors and ships. It is the oceanic equivalent of the climbers' Everest, and the challenge to some became irresistible. The roll call of sailors who have managed to round the Horn east-about (and more rarely, head to wind and west-about) glitters with the names of sailing legends: Vito Dumas, Marcel Bardiaux, Francis Chichester, Robin Knox-Johnston, Bernard Moitessier and Chay Blyth.

This book recounts the history of the Cape through the stories of the people who've taken it on and made it round – the Cape Horners' Club. From the first recorded single-hander in 1934 (Al Hansen, who was lost shortly afterwards and his body never found), we follow these very different protagonists as they pursue the ultimate goal while battling almost overwhelming odds. Woven through their stories is a history of the Cape, from its discovery to its use as a trading corridor until the opening of the Panama Canal, to its more recent role as a pure challenge for the best yachtsmen and yachtswomen in the world. Changes in weather prediction and navigation have had a huge impact, but the pressure for ever-faster times has never been greater.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Cape Horn's fearsome reputation and the price it has extacted from those who venture there derives from a lethal contrivance of geography that unleashes the most powerful natural dynamic forces on the earth's surface. Reaching deep into the Southern Ocean, the Cape intrudes into the flow of the water and weather patterns at the bottom of the world and funnels them into a maritime superhighway a mere 500 miles wide, building massive seas and accelerating wind speeds to hurricane strength. Currents rip at rates that defeat powerful engines.

These legendarily treacherous conditions were enough to secure Cape Horn's reputation as the ultimate in ocean violence; the supreme test of sailors and ships. It is the oceanic equivalent of the climbers' Everest, and the challenge to some became irresistible. The roll call of sailors who have managed to round the Horn east-about (and more rarely, head to wind and west-about) glitters with the names of sailing legends: Vito Dumas, Marcel Bardiaux, Francis Chichester, Robin Knox-Johnston, Bernard Moitessier and Chay Blyth.

This book recounts the history of the Cape through the stories of the people who've taken it on and made it round – the Cape Horners' Club. From the first recorded single-hander in 1934 (Al Hansen, who was lost shortly afterwards and his body never found), we follow these very different protagonists as they pursue the ultimate goal while battling almost overwhelming odds. Woven through their stories is a history of the Cape, from its discovery to its use as a trading corridor until the opening of the Panama Canal, to its more recent role as a pure challenge for the best yachtsmen and yachtswomen in the world. Changes in weather prediction and navigation have had a huge impact, but the pressure for ever-faster times has never been greater.

More books from Bloomsbury Publishing

Cover of the book Comparative Law in Practice by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Where the Truth Lies by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Geographers by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Portraits and Miniatures by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book A Clean Break by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Polish Armies of the Partitions 1770–94 by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book The Evolution of Law and the State in Europe by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book American Beauty Shop by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Mother Courage and Her Children by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Pentecostal Modernism: Lovecraft, Los Angeles, and World-Systems Culture by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Flow by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Rough Amusements by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book Scripture as Social Discourse by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book The Last Chance by Mr Adrian Flanagan
Cover of the book American Loyalist Troops 1775–84 by Mr Adrian Flanagan
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy