DATES
Event dates are between December 2025 and March 2026.
Photo Alec Honey/1974/copyright. Great Britain 2 surfing « off-the-clock » towards Cape Horn about 500 nautical miles ahead of a fleet of 15 yachts.
ROUTE
The Cape Horn Race ® is divided into two parts.
Part 1 consists of a staggered start from a European port through Le Maire Strait to Cape Horn on IRC handicap rules
with no classes, no assistance, and where the first yacht to arrive at Cape Horn Island wins !
« Parade of Sail » of all yachts at anchor in the UNESCO National Park, Cabo de Hornos on Saturday, 31 January 2026.
Part 2 : Sunday 1 February 2026
(Anniversary date of the maiden voyage of Queen Mary 2 round the Island of Cape Horn, 1 February 2006.)
« A race within a race »… the Cape Horn Cup, ® Chile : the first race round Cape Horn Island with a staggered start, so that the first yacht to arrive at the mythic meridian of Cape Horn wins ! This creates a spectacle of about 30 or more yachts racing round Cape Horn Island simultaneously, thus providing both safety and media impact… yachts continue to race east non-stop past Cape Horn Island, finishing the race at an European port.
Photo copyright Frédéric Dupuis/Alec Honey/2010. View from below the « new » eastern Cape Horn Island lighthouse looking west to the mythic meridian of Cape Horn Island.
YACHTS
Cape Horn Race ® attracts a wide range of yacht entries from towns and yacht clubs… for ANY racing, cruising, or production-built monohull sailing yacht of length between 12m and 24m, subject of course to security regulations. Selecting a compatible crew is a key race-winning factor. The skipper may select his own crew with a minimum of 4 and a maximum of 12 persons onboard. The Cape Horn Race gives both professional and Corinthian sailors an equal chance of winning under IRC. handicap rules.
Replica of Victoria. (seen here at Punta Arenas, Magellan Strait, Chile). Victoria was the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the globe. Victoria was part of a Spanish expedition commanded by the explorer Ferdinand Magellan between 1519 and 1522. Victoria was the only ship of five to complete the voyage. Magellan was killed in the Philippines.
HMS BEAGLE
Race into History : the discovery of Le Maire Strait, Argentina, 1616.
Le Maire Strait is a sea passage between Isla de los Estados and the eastern extremity of Argentina. Jacob Le Maire and Willem Schouten discovered the Strait while attempting to find a navigation link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and shortly before their discovery of Cape Horn. The passage is about eight nautical miles wide between two land masses. Cape Horn Race follows this historical route of Le Maire and his discovery of Staten Island (25 December 1615) and the Strait of Le Maire (24 January 1616), celebrating the 410th anniversary of these 2 outstanding discoveries in Argentina by the Dutch Master Mariners in 1616.
The discovery of the Beagle Channel and Ushuaia, Argentina, 1833.
Tierra del Fuego and Le Maire Strait later provided a gateway for Captain Robert FitzRoy onboard the H.M.S. Beagle’s maiden voyage surveying the Channel (named Beagle after the ship’s name), reaching Ushuaia on 29 January 1833 (the same date, 29 January, as the 410th anniversary of the discovery of Cape Horn by Le Maire and Schouten, in 1616)
Buenos Aires, Argentina : combines European heritage with latin passion : a seductive port city with international yachting, multinational and social culture
ENTRY FEE
The European yacht entry fee shall be between 600 euros and 1,800 euros, depending on the number of crew.
With effect from the date of opening of yacht registration, teams should proceed as follows :
A deposit of 500 euros secures your yacht and crew a place in the Race.
For registration please contact Cape Horn Race Team and you will receive the pre-Notice of Race, which includes the necessary application forms.
After registration and down payment, you will be allocated an entry number, which may be used as reference for administration and communication.
Yachts may NOT officially register their yacht entry, or submit an entry deposit, BEFORE the official opening date, which will be announced later. The NOR will contain precise conditions and benefits of yacht entry.
Yacht teams may however unofficially pre-register their yacht entry without paying any deposit. Names and minimum details will be placed on a « pre-register » list, without any obligation. This will reserve a place in the Race before the official opening date, after which the payment of a deposit becomes mandatory to ensure official registration, as outlined above. The maximum number of yacht entries may be limited.