After a Parade of Sail past waving crowds, it’s out onto the waters of one of the world’s Great Capes - Good Hope - and getting ready to face what, for many sailors, will be their ultimate challenge.
Sometimes known as the Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride, the Roaring Forties leg offers some of the most exhilarating and testing conditions of the entire circumnavigation as teams dip into the notoriously strong winds of the Roaring Forties which lies between 40 and 50 degrees latitude.
Once clear of the stunning but often fickle winded Table Bay, crews will make their way to the first Great Cape, the Cape of Good Hope and onto the Agulhas Bank, an area notorious for very disturbed seas where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet.
Spinnakers are likely to re-appear as ocean racing tactics will be in full f low. Teams get to discover exactly what the Clipper 70s are made of as they surf downwind at more than 25 knots on 15 metre waves.
Despite the gruelling reputation that the Roaring Forties command, this is a place respected by sailors as one of the best places to fully appreciate Mother Nature in her most raw and powerful glory.