Yachting: Cigar-smoking Kostecki toasts Cape Horn

London - John Kostecki and the rest of illbruck's crew could afford to break out the cigars after rounding Cape Horn at dawn on Monday.

Not only had the Volvo Ocean Race leaders waved goodbye to the perilous Southern Ocean, they had also stolen a march on their rivals at the head of the fleet.

The German boat was first of the eight competing boats to round the Horn -- taking advantage of favourable tidal conditions through the 20-mile wide channel between the eastern tip of Argentina and the island of Isla de los Estrados.

The current here can run between five and eight knots in places and while illbruck slipped through it quickly, their flagging rivals were not so lucky.

"Fortunately we hit this tide gate perfectly and took advantage of a 4-5 knots current boost," Kostecki told the race's official website after rounding the Horn.

"Some of us smoked cigars and we had a team photo with the famous Cape Horn in the background. Everyone was extremely happy to see it as we passed only one mile away.

"Most of us waved goodbye to the Southern Ocean as we turned the corner and headed north."

Kostecki could afford to be cheerful with illbruck's lead stretched to 61 miles over the chasing Amer Sports One and Tyco with just over 2000 miles left of racing in the fourth leg between Auckland and Rio de Janeiro.

The American skipper, who guided illbruck to wins in the first two legs and the overall lead in the nine-leg round-the-world-race, was pleased to see the back of the Southern Ocean, with its fearsome reputation for freezing temperatures, giant waves and the menace of floating icebergs.

"The Southern Ocean was brutal. Not only was it tough physically and mentally, but just plain scary as we saw so many icebergs and growlers (small icebergs)...and we could not pick up the growlers on the radar, so we were basically blind at night," said Kostecki.

"In the future, this race should have a southern most waypoint that is above the iceberg line in which the fleet cannot pass."

With the first six boats separated by less than 100 miles as of 11pm on Monday night (NZT), Kostecki stressed there was still a lot of racing to be done.

"I think this race is far from over and as usual we will see the bulk of the fleet finish together in Rio," he said.

"This next bit up to Rio will be very difficult tactically...the weather is constantly changing in this part of the world."

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