American sailor rounds Cape Horn for 3rd time

American skipper Brad Van Liew toasted his good fortune in rounding treacherous Cape Horn in ideal conditions aboard his 60-foot sloop late Monday while leading the third leg of the Velux 5 Oceans race.

Race organizers said the 43-year-old Van Liew, of Charleston, S.C., is the first American to race solo around Cape Horn three times. His previous roundings of the tip of South America were during the Around Alone, forerunner to the Velux 5 Oceans, in 1998, when he finished third, and in 2002, when he won the race.

"I'm looking right at it, on the radar, on the chart, outside, the whole show," he said in a satellite phone call to race organizers. "I've got it right in my sights. I'm going to buzz it. I'm going to give it a flyby."

Van Liew said he was fortunate to make the rounding in good conditions.

"It's awesome. Last night was a really, really difficult night, really dangerous waves and a lot more wind than was anticipated. It's been settling down ever since. I've just been trying to work my way over here so I can get a peak at it. It's going to be sunset in about an hour. I'm going to go on deck and have a glass of wine and celebrate being here and say hi to the old rock. It's been a lot of years. I didn't get to see it last time I was here. It's really pretty special. It's really cool."

The night before, the wind was blowing 50 knots and he said he couldn't select the right gear for his boat in what he called "weird" waves.

"On two different occasions, I just planted the bow into waves so bad the boat went under the water all the way to the mast, and on two different occasions, it actually tipped up on its nose and the rudders popped out of the water and it flopped over on its side. It did things that I've never seen the boat do. It's just a reminder of how unforgiving this place is."

In a blog posting a few days ago, Van Liew said rounding Cape Horn "is like summiting Mount Everest for sailors."

He also said it's unpredictable, and that Cape Horn isn't always visible due to fog or storms.

"It is never the same - a place impossible to predict," he wrote. "There is nothing to stop the winds and waves racing around the bottom of the globe unimpeded by land, until you reach Cape Horn. This is where the vast South Ocean and all of its fury is squeezed into a small corridor between the southern tip of South America and Antarctica. To add to the drama, the sea floor quickly jumps up to be much more shallow. The place is extreme and can be extremely dangerous. It has been called a sailor's graveyard, because so many boats have gone down."

The skipper planned to take photos and videos to savor the moment.

"It's a very small group of people that have been around this place solo three times and I'm really proud to be one of them. It's quite a remarkable feeling, really."

The race started with five skippers and is down to four. The route covers five oceans over nine months, with stops at Cape Town, South Africa; Wellington, New Zealand; Salvador, Brazil; and Charleston, S.C. before returning to France.

Van Liew is the overall race leader after winning the first two legs.