In sailing, the great capes are three major capes of the continents in the Southern Ocean: Africa's Cape of Good Hope, Australia's Cape Leeuwin, and South America's Cape Horn.
The great capes became landmarks in ocean voyaging due to the hazards they presented to shipping. The traditional clipper route followed the winds of the Roaring Forties south of the great capes.
Today, the great capes feature prominently in ocean yacht racing; many races and individual sailors follow the clipper route. A circumnavigation via the great capes is considered a noteworthy achievement. Joshua Slocum followed the route during the first solo circumnavigation of the world in 1895âÂÂ1898 (though he didn't round Cape Horn, instead going through the Strait of Magellan); the Joshua Slocum Society International presented its Level 3 Golden Circle Award to later sailors who did the same. Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz of Poland followed the route when she became the first woman to sail solo around the world, embarking on her journey from the Canary Islands on March 28, 1976, and returning on April 21, 1978. Her 401-day circumnavigation covered 31,166 nautical miles (57,719 km).
In his book The Long Way, Bernard Moitessier wrote:
The five southernmost capes refer to the five geographically southern mainland (or large island) points on the Earth.
Sailors circumnavigating the world have used these five southernmost capes as goals on their route.