Gitana : écurie de course au large fondée par le Baron Benjamin de Rothschild

Tuesday 20 February 2024

Behind the scenes of a film shoot at the end of the world: the Horn

Cape Horn is the southernmost tip of land attached to South America, on Hornos Island, which forms part of the small Hermite archipelago to the extreme south of Tierra del Fuego. This legendary promontory marks the northern limit of Drake Passage, the name of the strait separating South America and Antarctica. The meridian which passes through it, from the cape to Antarctica, defines the boundary between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. For round the world sailors, it is the end of the long and difficult tunnel of the Southern Ocean.

Back on 6 February, the polaRYSE teams immortalised the moment that the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild rounded Cape Horn. It was a incredibly thrilling moment for Charles Caudrelier, who was leading the Arkea Ultim Challenge fleet at that time. A Cape Horner for the 4th time in his career, the skipper of Gitana Team drew attention to the historical significance of this passage for the racing stable owned by Ariane and Benjamin de Rothschild, for himself, as well as for offshore racing, as it heralded the very first Horn for a flying boat!

For Yann Riou and Marin Le Roux, privileged observers of the magical moment, the rewards were all the more wonderful as pulling off such a shoot is truly exceptional given the number of boxes that have to be ticked even to be there: administrative constraints, the weather conditions required to fly over the legendary rock and above all the boat’s trajectory.

On the day in question, the planets were perfectly aligned and the results are truly breathtaking. We take you behind the scenes of this film shoot at the end of the world.