A mythic sailboat

Some of you may have already heard of Northabout, the only sailing ship in the world to have circumnavigated the Arctic twice!

The story begins in 2001 when 8 Celts started building it, based on the plans of a Nadja 15, and then set off in 2004 to reach Alaska from Westport. Their journey took them first through the Northwest Passage and then through the longest and most difficult Northeast Passage north of Siberia. This is the first time that a sailing boat has circumnavigated the Arctic from west to east! 

In 2016, the ship was acquired by the English adventurer Sir David Hempleman-Adams, and made a complete circumnavigation of the Arctic in a single season. The performance is remarkable but also due to a significant retreat of the ice sea…

In 2019, due to modifications, the boat is about to sink. The association Unu Mondo insisted on the adventurer, bought it and managed to repair it. In 2020, they set up an expedition to discover Greenland and the effects of global warming.

In 2022, our expedition leader, Régis, bought the boat that was to leave for the Via Sedna expedition led by 8 women skippered by Martha Guemes (4 navigators and 4 mountaineers) from La Rochelle to Greenland to open up a new mountaineering route on the East Face of the Northern Sun Spire.

The story of this mythic sailboat will now continue with us, Vert Banquise, as we travel to Svalbard. 

📌 PS: for the more curious among you, the sailboat is visible in the port of La Rochelle