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The '''Roaring Forties''' is the term for a band of prevailing strong westerlies that lie between about 40 and 50 degrees south. In the age of sail they were used by mariners on westward voyages across the [[Indian Ocean]] (mainly [[Dutch]] to the [[East Indies]] and [[British]] to [[Australia]] – and the [[Pacific Ocean]] (back to [[Europe]] via way of [[Cape Horn]] from Australia - [[New Zealand]].)

The '''Roaring Forties''' is the term for a band of prevailing strong westerly winds that blow between latitudes 40 and 50 degrees south. In the age of sail they were used by mariners on westward voyages across the southern [[Indian Ocean]] first, from 1610, by the [[Dutch|Dutchman]] Hendrick Brouwer on his way to the [[East Indies]] and, from the late 18th century, by the [[British]] to [[Australia]] and later to [[New Zealand]].

 

Ships would sail south from [[Cape of Good Hope]] searching for these winds before which they could then "run free" under full sail, often making particularly fast times.  (''“The Oxford Encyclopedia of Maritime History”'', in its article on the Indian Ocean  has stated that vessels could reach 30 [[knot]]s in the right conditions.) By the mid-nineteenth century these ships, usually the big [[full-rigged ship]]s or [[clipper]]s, were said to ''"run the easting down"''.

 

Two straits are affected by the Roaring Forties. [[Bass Strait]] between [[Tasmania]] and the mainland of Australia and [[Cook Strait]] between the two main islands of New Zealand are known for the fierceness of their gales, especially around the time of the spring [[equinox]] – September.  The north-westernmost  point of land in Tasmania where Bass Strait becomes the Indian Ocean is named Cape Grim.

 

While the term was created to refer to the Indian Ocean passage it is now also used for other ocean parts that are within latitudes 40 to 50, both north and south, where gales are known to occur. Before the [[Panama Canal]] was built, ships were forced to go even further south to round [[Cape Horn]] at the bottom of [[South America]].

 

See also:[[Trade winds]].

See also:[[Trade winds]].