, taken by ships sailing from Europe to Australia in order to take advantage of the Roaring Forties During the
Age of Sail, ships travelling from Europe to the
East Indies or
Australasia would sail down the west coast of Africa and round the
Cape of Good Hope to use the Roaring Forties to speed their passage across the Indian Ocean, then on the return leg, continue eastwards across the Pacific Ocean and south of
Cape Horn before sailing up the east coast of the
Americas to home. It was first used by Dutch explorer
Hendrik Brouwer in his
Brouwer Route, discovered in 1611, which effectively halved the duration of the trip from Europe to
Java, down from a year or more to 5 months and 24 days. "To run the easting down" was the phrase used to describe the fast passages achieved in the Roaring Forties. Modern round-the-world sailors also take advantage of the Roaring Forties to speed travel times, in particular those involved in
record attempts or races. An old sailor's expression goes, "below 40 degrees south, there is no law; below 50 degrees, there is no God." ==Impact of pollution==