Yacht accomplishes Arctic Sea Route, sails on to circumnavigate the North Pole

Via Circumpolar Musings:
(Voice of Russia, 6 September 2010) — An 18-metre Russian yacht with a young girl for First Mate has made it all along the Arctic shortcut from Europe to East Asia. The passage measured 12 and half thousand nautical miles, including 3 and a half thousand amid heavy ice. The eight-member crew of the ‘Peter the First’ is into a fourth month of a circumpolar attempt.

Original article here

Article from the launch of the expedition:

Russian yachtsmen aim for Arctic record

Russia’s Peter I yacht will set sail from St. Petersburg on June 4, at 4:00 p.m. Moscow Times, on an ambitious 12,500-mile trip around the Arctic, the world’s first such voyage without an icebreaker.

Preparations for the trip were launched in September. The yacht has been fully renovated and re-equipped and its hull was lengthened to 19 m to ensure better maneuverability. One of the crewmates, Sergei Murzayev, told the Voice of Russia by telephone hours before the departure that all equipment had been given a thorough check:

“We are checking out photo and video equipment, how good it is, and we are also checking our communications devices to be able to transmit our data online, post photo and video materials on the Internet and get in touch with the mainland.”

A sophisticated on-board navigation system will send back the yacht’s coordinates 24 hours a day. Given the extreme conditions of the Arctic, the crew must be well-informed about the weather and ice situation. Detailed weather forecasts will be provided by specialists in the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute in Moscow.

Sergei Murzayev: “There will be daily radio linkups. We will be receiving online data about the ice situation that we need so much. And we will maintain radio contact with other ships and with ground centers.”

The crew is amazingly young, all under 25, including the captain. But those are well-trained and experienced yachtsmen braced for challenges and ready to deal with emergencies. And they don’t mind some tourists keeping them company. A cozy room awaits those who would dare join them on board. All a would-be tourist needs to do is to contact the expedition’s coastal staff or call the crew from a cell phone. The pleasure will cost 350,000 rubles or $12,000.

Sergei Murzayev: “We all hope that the expedition will be a success, that we will circumnavigate the Arctic, set a new world record, keep the crew and the boat well and safe, and plant Russian flags where we want to plant them.”

By August 15 the crew hopes to reach the northernmost point of the Eurasian continent – Cape Chelyuskin, and by September 1, it hopes to round Cape Dezhnev, Eurasia’s easternmost point. The yacht is due back to St. Petersburg in November.

Original article here