THREE GREAT CAPES IN A 40-YEAR-OLD BOAT by Saša Fegić

(HIR 3, a 10∙1m CAT 34 built in 1979, became something of a legend in Croatia after making a westabout circumnavigation in 1988–90, rounding Cape Horn on 21st January 1989. Then, 31 years and one day later, she rounded it again, this time heading east. During the intervening years she suffered misfortune and neglect, including nearly 300 holes from bullets and shrapnel during the war in Croatia when Dubrovnik was under siege and the marina bombed. She was saved and restored, but later left abandoned. Then in 2014, while walking around a marina in Vrsar, Saša noticed a familiar red boat...

Saša was awarded the 2020 Qualifier’s Mug for skippering this 39,000 mile, 28-month circumnavigation via the Three Great Capes. Turn to page 22 to follow HIR 3’s route.)

When I saw the red boat I remembered how I had learned to sail on her more than two decades earlier. She was hardly recognisable – neglected for over ten years, she was in miserable condition and just barely floating. Feeling sorry for the legendary yacht, I searched out her owner and convinced him to sell the abandoned craft to me for a reasonable sum – but inside I was wondering if it was worth it, or if she was beyond repair. According to everyone who saw her it was an act of utter optimism, but I decided to give it my best shot. I was determined to repair her and take her around the world once again.

I moved HIR 3 to Calm near the Aeolian Islands Poreč in northern Croatia and launched a crowdfunding campaign to help with the initial cost of repairs. We managed to raise about €5000 – a drop in the ocean – but, more valuable than money, the crowdfunding campaign brought attention to HIR 3 and numerous unknown people offered their support and assistance. It took me two years of hard work to make HIR 3 seaworthy and it was late June 2016 before

The Rock of Gibraltar

she sailed again. During the rest of that year we sailed around the Adriatic from north to south, from Dubrovnik back to Trieste where we sailed in the Barcolana*, the biggest regatta in the world. HIR 3 was alive again and I wanted to show her to everyone – many have recognised the legendary red sailboat. 2017 was a year of fine-tuning and crew recruitment. We raced in ten regattas, and more than 100 people sailed on parts of her 4000 mile cruise around the Adriatic. This was a way for me to gain experience, because I had already announced my intention to sail around the world. In 2018 I did the final preparations for ocean sailing in Mali Lošinj. Safety gear was installed, a new set of sails ordered and the boat thoroughly sealed, cleaned and painted – she had never looked prettier and one could not tell her age.

The voyage started on 17th June 2018 from Mali Lošinj when, fully-crewed, we sailed out of the harbour and into the new adventure. We sailed south to Bari, then through the Strait of Messina towards the Aeolian Islands, stopping in Cagliari on the south coast of Sardinia. From there we continued to Ceuta, through Gibraltar to Las Palmas, and finally to the Cape Verde islands, before setting sail on our first real ocean passage.

The plan to go directly to Cape Town failed when a forestay broke in mid Atlantic. My girlfriend, Marina, and I had to change course downwind and head to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil for repairs. We crossed the Atlantic twice before we finally reached South Africa. In Cape Town my friend Nebojša joined me, and Marina went home to act as shore crew. The two of us sailed around the Cape of Good Hope and through the variables between 30°S and 40°S to Australia. It took us 85 days to cover the

* The Barcolana, run by the Società Velica di Barcola e Grignano, takes place annually on the second Sunday of October in the Gulf of Trieste. In 2019 it became a Guinness World Record holder when it was named ‘the greatest sailing race’ for its 2689 boats and more than 16,000 sailors. (Wikipedia)

Saša, Marina & Nebojša – crew change at the Royal Cape Yacht Club

5500 miles logged between Cape Town and Fremantle. Then on the next leg, in Bass Strait, the forestay broke again. Nebojša and I spent the whole night struggling to get things under control and managed to reach Melbourne under a jury rig of reefed mainsail and the storm jib on a babystay.

Sunset over the Indian Ocean

We had missed the season for crossing the Southern Ocean and had to wait for the next one, so we left Sydney in May and headed towards the tropics. We spent a month in New Caledonia, then went to Vanuatu and spent two months in Fiji. There we met cruisers who had sailed from Panama – they all thought we were crazy, and soon we were known in the community as ‘the guys who are sailing the wrong way’. The reality is that there is no right or wrong way to sail. This was my way.

Taking a sextant sight between Sydney and Noumea

We sailed from Fiji to New Zealand, and spent a month in Auckland where we prepared the boat for the Southern Ocean. After leaving New Zealand we sailed along the 40th parallel until we reached 100°W, then entered the notorious ‘Roaring Forties’ and ‘Furious Fifties’. It became cold and miserable. One low pressure system after another hit us hard, and we sailed constantly under only an extra-small storm jib. The air temperature was around 10°C and the water temperature half that.

HIR 3’s extra-small storm jib

On 22nd January 2020, after 66 days at sea, we rounded Cape Horn, the greatest Cape of them all. It was exactly 31 years and a day after HIR 3 had rounded it the first time. There were no round-the-world races in 2019/20 so there were few yachts sailing across the Southern Ocean and around Cape Horn that year. We were lucky – we hadn’t conquered anything – the ocean let us pass.

We celebrated in the southernmost yacht club in the world, Club Naval de Yates Micalvi. She’s an old Chilean Navy ship that was run aground and now serves as a marina at Puerto Williams in Chile’s Beagle Channel. It’s a perfect place to have a beer after passing through the Drake Passage.

Saša, Nebojša and mascot Cool Bear rounding Cape Horn

A toast with 40-yearold Skënderbeu brandy at Cape Horn

During the next leg, to Argentina, we survived a near capsize when we were hit by a rogue wave in a big storm. We were lucky that Mishko, our Navik windvane self-steering gear, managed to steer away from the wind and the boat righted herself. Even so, the boat was flooded and deck equipment damaged, and we lost all our electrics and electronics. I had to hand steer down the waves until the storm passed, while Nebojša bailed and occasionally made us a cup of tea. Eventually we managed to start the engine, but it took us almost a month to fix everything in Mar del Plata. The COVID-19 pandemic had started spreading and it was the last chance for a final crew change. Nebojša flew back to Europe and Marina came out bringing desperately needed spare parts.

Mishko, our Navik windvane self-steering, takes us downwind

We had to abandon the idea of sailing to Rio de Janeiro because of the pandemic and instead sailed into Rio Grande du Sul, the southernmost port in Brazil, on the very last day before the lockdown. The Croatian embassy helped us with clearing into the country and we were allowed to stay in a closed Rio Grande Yacht Club for a month before we could continue north. On 12th May, just two days before my 42nd birthday, we sailed into Salvador de Bahia, from which we’d started heading southeast nearly two years earlier. We came back from southwest. Tamen illud sphaericum! (It’s round after all!).

In Salvador, following the full circle

It took us 28 days to cross the Atlantic for the third time. In the Cape Verde islands we weren’t allowed to step ashore because of the pandemic, but fortunately by the time HIR 3 reached Madeira and then Gibraltar the borders were open again and we were able to enjoy being on land again. The passage from the Cape Verde islands to Madeira and Gibraltar was a torture, beating against the prevailing trade winds. It took us almost a month to cover just a thousand miles from Mindelo to Funchal – we eventually sailed almost 2000 miles against these northeasterly winds.

The HIR 3 Sailing Tribe logo we painted on the wall of Funchal Marina, Madeira

These difficulties continued in the Mediterranean, with several low pressure systems forcing us to seek shelter first in Sardinia and then in Manfredonia on Italy’s east coast. Finally, just 250 miles from home, the boom broke during a gybe. A shipyard in Brindisi helped us to make a jury repair that took us back to Mali Lošinj, where we were welcomed by family, friends and media. So on 17th October 2020, 28 months, 15 countries and 25 stop-overs since leaving, I completed my circumnavigation of the globe. HIR 3 and I had covered 39,000 miles and sailed around Three Great Capes – the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn. Mission accomplished!

We are welcomed back to Mali Lošinj

On my return I was accepted as a full member of the International Association of Cape Horners and was welcomed into the Ocean Cruising Club. I have been writing a book about the voyage, entitled My Way Around the World, which should soon be available on Amazon. HIR 3 is being refitted and will welcome everyone who wants to sail in the Adriatic aboard a legendary boat. Join the Sailing Tribe at http://sailing-tribe.com.