Sailing the Southern Ocean

Cape Town to Brisbane through the Southern Ocean winter on a Leopard39,
64 days non-stop, 65kts+ winds.
Biggest surf: 34kts
Skipper: Kenneth Hoiem
1st Mate: Carolina Deseta
Crew: Liam Ferreira
For Licensing please contact licensing(at)fullscreen.net

[@kristoffscuba5466]

This is the best big-sea sailing footage anywhere on the internet. I go sailing and think I have been out in some half decent sea's, then when I get back and review the footage I filmed, it looks almost flat calm. The seas here look huge on video which means in the flesh they must have been absolutely mammoth. Great job.

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Thanks Kristoff -it was a quite a ride!

[@omarrodrigues900]

a lot of people don't like to film waves and storms in the sea reason bad lucky

[@katreyu2967]

we sailors are a superstitious lot aren’t we 😂

[@norml.hugh-mann]

@@omarrodrigues900 never heard that...a superstition that cant be older than the invention of the widely available personal video recording device...I thought we had evolved past making up nonsense but i guess not.

[@michaltakac673]

Indeed, I had some not so pleasurable sail with small craft and baby on board this summer and even though we did not get the worst parts on video, it looked almost completely flat on video. Seeing this mountains on camera I can not even imagine what it had to be onboard.

[@kevbla1768]

I have just bought a Leopard 39 and although I have absolutely no intention of taking it anywhere near conditions like this it is nice to see that in the right hands the boat is very capable of it. Great video, thanks.

[@heatmoon]

Even in stormy weather I imagined the ocean as featureless. Far from it, it is filled with moving mountains and valleys called waves. This is my favorite video on KZbins. Scares me right out of sailing myself

[@falkpatt]

There are lots of attempts made on youtube to capture the awesome power of the sea in heavy weather. This is the only one I've seen that really demonstrates how crazy it can get. And of course in reality the waves are three times larger than they look on film. The laughing off-camera is very telling, while most would be terrified, these guys are having a blast. It just goes to show, you really have to be somewhat unhinged (in a good way) be in that situation. Great footage.

[@mahtoosacks]

All real sailors are unhinged. you have to be. A normal person would lose their mind when confronted with the awesome power of nature.

[@jv1969]

I'd guess 8-10 . That's balls out, and perhaps too dangerous. They should have planned and adjusted their course?

[@kizombaflyingkizombie7335]

On a cat like that that averages 6 knots and in such a big ocean there is only so much you can do. However scary as it may seem, believe it or not the low pressure point might just as well be 500 nm away or more...and while that's some fairly big seas you see no breakers so it's still a helluva ride but you're not in imminent mortal danger.

[@rickfrazier1148]

RE Marketing agreed. Every bit of 20. Some reaching 30. Those are some very large seas.

[@bensteel3944]

I guess it has to be really crazy for it to look crazy which doesn't normally get captured on video ...

[@jhouse770]

My palms were sweating for 3 minutes straight...I had to go have a bourbon to settle my nerves. I'm glad you made it through.

[@MrCatamaran1]

I've realized that everyone is different. I delivered a 60-foot Ferro cement boat up to port Owen on the west coast of South Africa. there was 6 on board and everyone had is own impression or opinion of stress. some were quite some were dying with fear. its all a matter of how you see it. I was the skipper and I enjoyed it because I was the most experienced sailor and love wave bashing.

[@Freedo1234]

Wow , can't believe a small cat can handle that sea state . Spectacular !!

[@SteveDisenhof]

Just finished “Voyage of the Madmen” re the 1968-69 round the world, solo, non-stop race (only one finished). This brought it to life. Thanks for sharing.

[@crash7738]

I'm happy to see someone living the dream...

[@awdeveau]

It's stuff like this that makes me want to get into sailing! This is just awesome!

[@madamerni1105]

Very impressive. You guys are really brave. Well done!

[@Devo491]

Making good speed, under bare poles! Awesome, folks!! Obviously very confident in your boat's ability, and your own.

[@bigglingg]

Awesome, thanks for taking the video and sharing it. Looks like an absolute blast.

[@klugert]

My 32' ft cat turtled running in 20-25' seas, 40-50k winds, bare poled and dragging lotsa warp to help steer and slow down. A confused wave bombed it on the aft quarter and spun it beam on, and it was all over before you could blink. Just a little too small for those conditions.

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi Kristy -yea, we were concerned about that happening pretty much every day...the boat tracked surprisingly well bit I think we had a bit of luck too. Glad you made it to tell the story! K

[@klugert]

Thanks Kenneth. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about it.

[@klugert]

Hi Jared, I can't remember details but we thought the water was rising pretty quick, maybe 30 minutes max. No one really knows how far down they will settle until it happens.

[@DAVEEMAN1]

Kristy, where can I read about your incident?

[@vanaruone6767]

Hi David - There's an article in the August 2010 Latitude 38 called "Funhouse Ride from Hell" where they did a really good job of getting the facts together. Other articles that were written were largely speculations. - Kristy

[@WizenedVariations1]

Kind of perfect weather in it's powerful way.

[@YachtMarineBrokerage]

One of the best real high seas on a yacht! Great video! Well Done!

[@aaln1aaln132]

Nice to see the serial mini drogues in action. Real comfort against pitchpoling. Oh, and respect brothers - that is some sea!

This heavy weather! Nice to see your relaxed

[@TheAdventuresofPrinceDiamond]

Is that a Jordan Series drogue? Nice! Don't think I'd feel safe with that huge sliding glass door there (and the jerry jugs) waiting for a pooping wave though. Yes, I'm a monohull'r. :-)

[@unita39hse]

Awesome footage respect to the sailors those waves look big on camera but to actually witness them there must have been much larger enjoyed the sound of the wind too

[@jeremybabinsack3065]

These are very serious conditions, your drogue/drone line snaps, big trouble. Just holding your mind together during these conditions is taxing, if you are a real sailor, you know what you're looking at here. Like the lady says 'serious shit' going on here!

[@mma9region]

Bonito

[@katreyu2967]

I grew up sailing in the south and I thought the ocean was like this in the rest of the world and thought Everyone else was just made of sterner stuff to go out into open ocean for a nice little trip so casually I am glad I’m not the only sailor to be slightly terrified of the roller coaster that is the open ocean round here 😊😂❤️

[@rayharkins14]

I am most comfortable on land watching these videos in my couch. That is close enough to that stuff....

[@jonathanperez4244]

The ocean is a frightening phenomenon!

[@rnunezc.4575]

Yes, serious ocean heavy weather sailing and on a small cat. Looks like that leopard hold control on those conditions really well. Or of best I ve seen. Thank you for sharing. Which you have more footage. Love it best luck.

[@hanshase3196]

Holy shit. Awesome. Pure nature

[@roadboat9216]

I love all you arm chair sailors talking about being crazy to be out there with all that glass. Well guys guess what? They're out there doing fine. IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN! I think they know what they're doing.

[@juanmlleras]

He has only a storm jib. But I wouldn't dare to go there in a catamaran. Too intrinsically unstable for those conditions. Only form stanility, no balast.

[@fredb0714]

I've read all the comments. Where are the arm chair sailors?

[@lunaticcatamaran7666]

Vir Lekker, did the same trip on my Dean cat Lunatic. my record was a 28knot two wave surf. keeps you on your toes down there.

[@lcferrferr6811]

During that trip we encountered a 34kn surf down the fact of a giant ... i will never for get that silent pause before it hurtled us down - I kept one eye on the GPS speed and the other on the line we took ... We actually named the boat "Drop-in" too

[@gonzalo060375]

2:11 that was my first impression when I checked this vid. Good to know they could tell the story

[@mrhebrew7511]

absolutely breath taking!

[@zzebowa]

Are you towing a sea anchor there? Makes sense!

[@HamburgdasTorzurWelt]

Amazing footage -Thanks !!!

[@GraduadoFigo]

brilliant video either way!

[@GraduadoFigo]

wow!! beautiful and darn scary!! Respect!! Not sure what got you out there in the first place, but I'm truly amazed!! One question: 64 days? isn't that long way around to Brisbane? I thought it was a 7-8K miles. Do it in 10kn and it will be a month max. No? How come 64 days?

[@kennethhoiem5167]

+GraduadoFigo Thanks Graduado. We struggled a bit to keep our course, kind of had to go with the wind and the swell in order to not get hit on the beam, so our course over ground was like a sinus wave as the depressions came through, so we traveled a lot further than the rumbline!

[@todaysrealhealth8153]

+kenneth hoiem you guys are very very brave and good sailors. No doubt.

[@judymotto7338]

Let the good times roll

[@jwrappuhn71]

WOW!! that's incredible.

[@solvang13]

Gooood trip wonderfuld wether.

[@allosaurusfragilis7782]

Im trying to imagine my rib in that. I would not be happy . These waves are monsters. They haven't even got a sail up!

[@paulw.9015]

That sea looks menacing

[@elvinlong3293]

I saw something like that under sunny sky and sailing south through the Florida strait towards western Cuba. Piver 38 lodestar.

[@MachTuck]

Pretty rough weather sailing! looks awesome! Does the drogue really helps? on steering the boat while surfing?, big difference if there is no drogue? Im just a sunfish sailor. Thanks for sharing the moment!

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi MachTuck. Yea, the drogue makes a big difference, it slows you down but more so it keeps the boat on track during the big surfs and prevents the boat from going sideways into the the trough at the end of the ride. Thanks.

[@dwongu]

Great clip! Are you guys towing an actual drogue to slow the boat or just warps? Moving right along under bare poles is somewhat fun while it's still light out. ;-)

[@lcferrferr6811]

It was a warp with a bite on the end bight

[@lcferrferr6811]

By the time we pulled it aboard a big portion had unraveled so we had to wrap it back up

[@Modforhd]

Monsters... and by the hundreds, thousands.

[@jugabratdeka2191]

Those are not waves, those are mountains.😮. If I were in place of them, I would have probably died out of heart attack.😂.

[@apancakehedgehog]

You predicted it!

[@snoopyspeagle1419]

and thats on a nice day

[@susiecrawford9694]

Well. you look like you're having fun!

[@pagedown4195]

Really enjoyed the sound ; )

[@lesliebrennan3351]

Wow... this takes courage.

[@axelgotz7959]

Gigantisch this Video. Is that not live danger. I had fear. Where is this?

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi Axel -it's between Cape Town and the Bass Straits.

[@NVRAMboi]

There are things out there much bigger than us. This is certainly one of them.

[@SailingPardonMyFrench]

what a ride!!!

[@dianebays5484]

I've heard it's tough! You got more balls than me!!cudos!

[@olddog57]

Impressive.. Filmed quite a while ago, could you remember now what was the wind speed when this footage was made?

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi olddog -yea, it was blowing around 60 kts that day.

[@olddog57]

Oh, just heared at 2min49sec - 60knots! Much scarier near the beach as we had about the same wind for a few hours in marina Baiona (Galicia). But maybe I think that as I did not sail the high seas yet?

[@aaronjoley4491]

Some people live lives of adventure. Others merely watch KZbin videos, like me. Wow!

[@baconman1919]

This looks nerve wracking

[@carolinasuner1484]

WOWWW !!!! AMAZING

[@chrisdaniel1339]

It looks like you have a drogue out, it that to keep the cat from surfing down the waves and then having the wave crash on the boat? That was an exhilarating video.

[@adamutuber]

Is there a high risk of those big waves coming from behind and sinking the rear of the boat?

[@smokey213964]

+adamutuber in his case, its a matter of a lot of factors, as to what we call a "following sea" yes depending on the size of the vessel you have a better chance taking the waves head on than to be caught with them in a pattern following the vessel, I work on freighter ships and we have been caught up in following seas so huge the stern of the vessel up to b deck would disappear below sea level and then pop back up. I don't do sail boats just freighters, so I will say as a licensed mariner the guy in the video deserves credit where its due. I have been going to sea for 18 years, I have worked all kinds of vessels and have sailed in almost every body of water including the great lakes and inland water ways, I have sailed through, typhoons, hurricanes, tropical depressions ect and you will never catch me in a sail boat fooling around on the ocean, on a 800 foot freighter, gladly, in a hurricane EVEN BETTER!!! but in a sail boat......like I said this guy is due credit as are all the others.

[@markleeson3453]

That was great!

[@mickregan6449]

I am still learning to sail I wish people will show more about the sails not just the sea , lol sean lots of rough sea I am a fisherman , need more sails in the vids plz

[@kennethhoiem5167]

+mick regan Hi Mick, as you can see we didn't have a whole lot of canvas up :-)

[@SailingLovelove]

I thik your laundry is dry. :-) Nice video.

[@wmobrien55]

+Sailing Jeanneau Love Love It's their underwear. They have to change them a lot!

[@mcallbee]

You had no sails up...were you under power through all of that?? Or did the wind just turn your whole boat structure into a a crude "sail'??

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi Mark, no power, just bare poles plus a small bit of genoa and a lot of wind and big swell pushing. Kenneth

[@markjennings2315]

So all sail in, start the motors and tow a drogue. What was your drogue? How did you adjust the length of line off the bridal??

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Mark -the drogue was there to slow us down when bare poles was not enough, no motor, just bare poles and a tiny bit of head-sail for steerage, all pushed by a lot of wind and swell. We used anchor warp. The length of the warp had to be a good swell and a half behind the boat to be effective and we adjusted the drag by adding a bight at the end of the warp. Worked well.

[@youtubynotme]

Those are some high waves, higher than your masts, ha ha. sheesh. How has your leopard 39 lasted since? That's some pretty good testimony to it's ability.

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi Aeodin -It was not my boat, it was a delivery, so not quite sure how the boat is doing now but it did look really good when we handed it over!

[@youtubynotme]

@@kennethhoiem5167 Heh heh, nice cover

[@alainrs4799]

Awesome seamanship ! If your initial course would have been against the waves, would you go that way or go backwards with the waves?

[@mcgruffallo]

AFAIK it would not be possible to sail against the weather in those conditions. It's not really about sailing at this point: it's about surviving.

[@Ispedbyu]

Impressive.

[@tincoffin]

What is he towing .. Is that a Walkers log circa 1950..? :)

[@umsonhoeovento4469]

Dear Friends, during this vídeo is possible to see a cable on the water, its a "drogue"??

[@volcanowb]

Wonder their speed on those big pushes!

[@21pbeck]

seems like the camera always flattens out the sea.. but not so in the case!! very impressive

[@Oakleaf700]

Yes, I have noticed this phenomenon..maybe as the camera is 2D? .These waves look pretty ''heapy'' though, and not much horizon visible. amazing..I'd love to be there, seasickness notwithstanding.

[@andrewbergspage]

***** only a guess, but i'd bet the camera flattened these out a bit too.

[@todaysrealhealth8153]

+andrew berg camera did flatten theses waves out. I have seen waves like this. They are so big.

[@Oakleaf700]

TodaysRealHealth These look like 'mountains'.. jagged tops to them. In reality they would be impressive.

[@karenhoiem4007]

well done darling!

[@woundedwhale786]

Awesome waves. How do you deal with them at night time when you can't see what's coming?

[@MartinvonSeelen]

what is it you are have behind in that rope. ?

[@ImageThisPhoto]

Southern Coast of the Bering Sea?

[@IHWKR]

What's up with the rope in the water?

[@dchiffy]

Wow the size of these waves

[@Herblay63]

Scary place to be in a boat with so much glass.

[@LovelyLolitaa]

Awesome!!!

[@anthonynguyen2469]

Wow! sea condition like this, only brave man w luck, right mind & right equipment can survive. Lord forbid what if the robe broke and lost his drogue. I will bring my back up drogues and sea anchors. Wish you a fair-winds and safe passages.

[@dabbbles]

No sail at all, and a big sea-anchor ~ yes? As re. the swell: I remember a photo taken from high above the deck of the battleship Scharnhorst: the camera was aimed at the top of the following sea,,,,at an angle of about 45 deg. from the horizontal. Since then I've always wanted to do that!

[@offroaddemon1991]

Nice big rollers

[@tom1-]

This is power😍

[@geocentrictruth]

Did you go around June?

[@mikebordeaux8218]

I’ve seen smaller mountains.

[@tugaminhoto4969]

Why that rope in the water behind the boat?

[@ОЧёмбе]

Сзади тянется плавучий якорь? Его даже и не видно...

[@ОЧёмбе]

8.8.2018

[@МишаНехорошев-х6ж]

100 (300 футовая) метровая веревка с узлами на конце) - warp drogues, not sea anchor

[@ОЧёмбе]

Тормозит движение и выправляет курс?

[@ОЧёмбе]

То есть, разница в чём?

[@thequietrebel7695]

I know it’s been a loooong time since you posted this and I’m not sure if you’ll see this or not but I noticed you were basically running with bare poles. Was your sea drogue (or drag line) keeping the boat straight or were you under power?

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi QuietRebel -thanks for your comment. Yea, we were running pretty much bare poles with just a small bit of headsail, no motor. The drogue helped to keep the boat in line on the big surfs and it also helped to keep the speed down. Once the boat-speed got above 25 knots it was hard to keep the boat on track without the drogue. We hit 34 knots once, it was mayhem, but the drogue did its job and kept us from hitting the trough of the swell sideways. Kenneth

[@zebostoneleigh]

I am confused by this video. 1) What is the purpose of line dragging behind the boat? 2) Is this "sailing" as there are no sails up?

[@mcgruffallo]

1) Slow the boat down - but not too much. You need some braking force to stop the boat accelerating uncontrollably down the steep front of a big wave - like a car shooting off downhill with no brakes. At the same time you want to run with the sea to reduce the forces acting on the boat. It's a balancing act (the OP could probably explain much better than I can). 2) In very strong winds the force of the wind on the bare rigging can be enough to push the boat along. If you ever stuck your arm out of a car window (not recommended if you want to keep your arm..) the air almost feels solid after 30-40mph.

[@monandlea777]

Leopard cats are strong for this situations?

[@nicorasusan]

what is the the rope in the back doing? its sea lanchor? to avoid turnings?

[@UtahRiders]

Holy major seas guys! This is confidence inspiring as I own a Leopard 44. Did you have any cleat or drogue line issues along the way? Looked like it was holding up well.

[@kennethhoiem5167]

Hi UtahRiders -boat held up well, strong boat. For the drogue we used the D-rings off the inboard sides of the sterns -a cleaner mount and probably a little stronger than the cleats. Kenneth

[@UtahRiders]

kenneth, thanks for the explanation. That makes sense as the rings are designed for towing. I will remember that. Great to hear you had no problems in those conditions, very encouraging. I just got my boat and haven’t sailed it yet but can’t wait to get on the waiter. Cheers!

[@patrickrinehart4393]

DAMN!!!!!!!

[@mathenmoore4251]

Are they dragging something behind boat on a rope? If so why.

[@jonteabbe3692]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drogue

[@mathenmoore4251]

@@jonteabbe3692 i see thanks i didnt know about a drogue.nice

[@richarda.4314]

How far out is the drogue line? Just behind the top of the wave behind you?

[@lorenzocaimano184]

what is the rope in the water for? thank you

[@comancheflyer4903]

Drag chute?

[@buzz385]

You have my respect. I'd be scared. Looks dangerous. But I'm no sailor.

[@timinator824]

what is on the line that you are pulling?

[@davidcooper8811]

A drogue.

[@davidcooper8811]

A skier?

[@kennethhoiem5167]

It's a 300 ft anchor warp with a bight at the end to slow us down and to keep the boat on track.

[@littleriverfarm6920]

you'd never catch me in a multihull in the southern ocean.