Circumnavigation Registers

The International Association of Cape Horners (IACH), has published its multi-crew circumnavigation register to compliment a similar register for solo circumnavigations published in 2020.

This latest roll of honour currently lists 1,848 individual circumnavigations during past Whitbread/Volvo Round the World races, the 1975/6 Financial Times Clipper Race, British Steel/BT Global Challenge races, Trophee Jules Verne, The Race, Oryx Quest, Barcelona and Portimão events.

Both circumnavigation registers have multi-search facilities that allow users to interrogate by name, yacht, nationality, event and time.

Britain tops the multi-crew list with 715 circumnavigations followed by France (232), New Zealand (200) Netherlands and USA (75) land-locked Switzerland with 71, Australia and Spain (51), Finland (47), Italy (41) and Sweden (40)

There are 15 yacht crews the compilers have not been able to identify (listed in red within the Register) who have competed in the Trophee Jules Verne, 1997/8 Whitbread, 2000/1 and 2004 BT/Global Challenge events, and 2011/12, 2014/15 and 2017/18 Volvo Ocean Races. We encourage these crews to come forward and register their achievements to make this historic record complete.

Within the Solo lists, 180 have sailed solo non-stop around the globe via the 3 Great Capes and 150 more have done the same with stops. France leads the nationality list with 90 non-stop circumnavigations and 27 with stops. This compares with Britain (28 non-stop and 24 with stops) and USA (6 non-stop and 27 with stops).

• SOLO NON-STOP
• SOLO WITH STOPS
• MULTI-CREWED

If you believe you are eligible and not yet registered, but wish to be, please register for either solo and multi-crew circumnavigations by Clicking Here (opens in a new browser window).

Multi Crew Circumnavigation Criteria

The IACH abides by the circumnavigation rules established by the World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC).

WSSRC Round the World, eastbound or westbound 21,600 nm. To sail around the World, a vessel must start from and return to the same point, must cross all meridians of longitude and must cross the Equator. It may cross some but not all meridians more than once (i.e. two roundings of Antarctica do not count). The shortest orthodromic track of the vessel must be at least 21,600 nautical miles in length calculated on a ‘perfect sphere’. In calculating this distance, it is to be assumed that the vessel will sail around Antarctica in latitude 63°S. A vessel starting from any point where the direct orthodromic distance is too short shall pass one single island or other fixed point on a required side so as to lengthen their orthodromic track to the minimum distance. No starting point is permitted south of 45°S. 1 degree of longitude at 63°S is taken as 27.24nm The circumnavigation must include rounding the 3 great Capes: the Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin and Cape Horn

For the purpose of this Register all Volvo/Whitbread races are included.

Adjudication by the IACH will be final.

Click Here to learn what constitutes a True Circumnavigation.