Sailing into the coldest waters the planet has to offer is becoming increasingly popular. But finding a suitable yacht for high latitudes sailing requires additional \u2013 and sometimes very different \u2013 considerations. So, where should you begin when looking for a used yacht that\u2019s capable of sailing to some of the world\u2019s most inhospitable places?Tranquilo ice bay. Photo by: KM YachtbuildersMerf Owen, of Owen Clarke Yacht Design, has designed many a high latitudes yacht for cruising, while his wife Ashley Perrin is a professional ice pilot, formerly working for the British Antarctic Survey. He advises: \u201cChoosing a yacht to cruise in high latitudes is inherently more complicated.
\n\u201cThe first thing to consider is where in the high latitudes you are likely to want to explore, weighing up the boat and the experience you will have on board. Lots of people cruise in high latitudes on yachts some would deem unsuitable, but many of these people are very experienced. A well-found GRP yacht or even a wooden Bristol pilot cutter could be a great contender for cruising northern Norway and Svalbard \u2013 but wouldn\u2019t be suitable for the Northwest Passage. It is about what you\u2019re planning to do, your expedition strategy and your level of experience.
\nIt doesn\u2019t have to be metal: Merf Owen and Ashley Perrin cruise a lightweight but fast GRP yacht into high latitudes, but with great care and a lot of experience behind them. Photo: Merf Owen
\n\u201cAlso, would a stronger boat perhaps one day give you a false sense of security, meaning you go somewhere that you really shouldn\u2019t? That\u2019s worth considering too.\u201d
\nHigh latitude cruising grounds have something of a hierarchy, Perrin explains. \u201cPeople can put them all into one category, but each area has different characteristics. For example, Norway is a great training ground to see if you like the high latitude style of sailing. While also being wonderful cruising, it is well supported by good search and rescue and is (relatively) easy to get to. Greenland is a step up from that, then perhaps the Patagonian canals.
\n\u201cThe Antarctic peninsula is serious high latitude cruising, but by far the most extreme of them all is South Georgia. Extremely exposed, far from help and hard to get to! Each requires different things from the yacht.\u201d
\nAs a yacht designer, Owen\u2019s view on what characteristics are important counter some conventions. \u201cThe stability curve is important to look at, but more important than the righting angle of the yacht is the amount of hull physically in the water, the mass that\u2019s going to stop you tipping over, which of course also has a correlation with hull speed. Speed is safety in the high latitudes and, as there can sometimes be no wind preceding a gale, motoring range and speed aren\u2019t dirty words either!
\nClimbing the rig while conning for ice \u2013 hull material choice is just one factor when it comes to specc\u2019ing a yacht for high latitudes. Photo: Sophie O\u2019Neill
\n\u201c\u2018Expedition yachts\u2019 are also a new trend, and it\u2019s a look of yacht that is becoming more popular, but not all are actually that well suited. Lifting keel yachts have many good attributes for high-latitude sailing, but [if they have] little fuel and water capacity, they are limited. You need to consider yacht specification sheets, correlating them carefully to the mission you have in mind.\u201d
\nChoice of hull material is a big question, however, going for the toughest ice-proof design might not be advisable: \u201cIf you\u2019re starting out you shouldn\u2019t really be allowing yourself into a situation where you might be iced in, so perhaps it shouldn\u2019t be your primary concern.
\n\u201cA centreboard is useful in high latitude anchorages but being able to sail to windward off a lee shore is a fundamental characteristic. Balance everything out, rather than take a sales description at face value.\u201d
\nA niche market
\nJildou Huisman is experienced at selling in the high-latitudes yacht market, dealing in new and used yachts for KM Yachtbuilders in the Netherlands. Working mostly in aluminium, the yachts they build are often fully custom projects, specified for a specific high latitude mission. Their brokerage department also re-sells many high latitude-equipped yachts they have built as well as undertaking refits.
\n\u201cWe have seen a big increase in the number of people looking for a yacht that\u2019s happy in the high latitudes,\u201d says Huisman.
\n\u201cThe main thing that differentiates an aluminium yacht we build for high latitudes from one for more temperate sailing is the thickness of the hull. For simply cold weather sailing we would build around 6mm thick, but for high latitudes 10-15mm is needed for strength and rigidity. To overwinter iced in, as some of our customers have done successfully, a very strong hull is needed to withstand the pressure of the ice. We have built up to 25mm thick.
\n\u201cRedundancy in systems such as heating, autopilot, etc are important as well. As a lot of our builds are completely custom, they are sometimes very specific aesthetically, largely because owners can spend a very long time living aboard.
\n2006 Bestevaer 56ST A custom build for high latitude sailing, Tranquillo is a veteran of extended expeditions. kmy.nl Photo: KM Yachtbuilders
\n\u201cTranquillo, a Bestevaer 56, for example, has a classic look on the outside but is very modern on the inside, it was the owner\u2019s way of making it his long term home. He completed the Northwest Passage twice on that yacht, spending 10 months iced in in Canada.\u201d
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond hand boats: buying a classic yacht<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOver the last three decades there has been a spectacular classic boat revival, resulting in \u2013 and further encouraged by\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond hand boats: is a 10-year-old yacht the best age?<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWith new build waiting lists growing at an unprecedented rate, buyers are turning to the second hand boat market to\u2026<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond hand boats: how to buy a ready to sail yacht<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s no secret that if you want to buy a new yacht the wait is now likely to be two\u2026<\/p>\n
The Surveyor\u2019s View
\nMarine surveyor Ben Sutcliffe-Davies on steel vs aluminium yachts:
\n\u2022 Aluminium tends to be a much more consistent and predictable material for a hull than steel and requires very little maintenance. Steel, although strong, is inherently prone to rusting which tends to occur in places that are hard to reach.
\n\u2022 The \u2018grade\u2019 of construction material is fundamental. Yachts are occasionally built with a non-marine grade metal, despite this compromising the vessel.
\n\u2022 Whether steel or aluminium, welding is likely to be the weak point in the structure. Quite a few high latitude yachts are \u2018home built\u2019 so quality of welding will be a big factor.
\n\u2022 Poor bonding and isolation in metal yachts can be fatal to the hull structure. Even production aluminium yachts come out of the yard with features that will eat through the hull because isolation between two incompatible metals has been overlooked.
\nWe bought a high latitude yacht
\nSophie O\u2019Neill and Chris Kobusch recently purchased a steel-hulled Rekere 36 Ocean Wanderer. As skippers for Skip Novak\u2019s Pelagic Expeditions, they are experienced in sailing at high latitudes and plan to cruise both the Arctic and Antarctic while making videos for their YouTube channel Seas & Summits.
\nSophie O\u2019Neill and Chris Kobusch. Photo By: Sophie O\u2019Neill
\n\u201cExperience sailing Skip\u2019s carefully designed yachts taught us that dependability, which could also be called simplicity, should lead the search for our own yacht,\u201d explains Chris. \u201cThat said, it is hard to find a high latitude yacht on the used market, so there\u2019s likely to be a degree of compromise whatever you buy. An aluminium hull is great if you can afford it as it\u2019s maintenance free, but steel is much cheaper and still extremely strong as long as it\u2019s properly maintained.\u201d
\nSophie and Chris had a list of essentials. \u201cA pilot or doghouse is important in high latitudes. A constant and reliable source of heat also becomes crucial if you\u2019re cruising for any length of time, so we were looking for a Refleks stove already on board, or the possibility to fit one. Originally conceived for fishing boats, unlike hot blown air diesel heating, you tend to turn the Refleks on and just leave it ticking over. Diesel consumption isn\u2019t as much as you might think and we leave a kettle on the top so there is constant hot water for drinks.\u201d
\nDue to how small the market for used high latitude yachts is, and worried they would lose the boat to another buyer, Sophie and Chris purchased Ocean Wanderer without a survey. \u201cWe actually came across her in the Azores. We\u2019d been looking for about two years online, but no boat came as close as a prospect for us. There was already someone else interested but we got to know the owners, who had circumnavigated twice on her.
\nOcean Wanderer after an Atlantic delivery to the UK. Photo: Sophie O\u2019Neill
\n\u201cThey could see we would take her on the adventures she was built for, so we did a deal.
\n\u201cAs they\u2019d lived on board we didn\u2019t have the concerns we might have had about a yacht that was only used part-time. Their lives had depended on her. There is also a great benefit to having common ground with the previous owner: they have spent a lot of time handing over to us and that has been invaluable.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you enjoyed this\u2026.<\/p>\n
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Sailing into the coldest waters the planet has to offer is becoming increasingly popular. But finding a suitable yacht for high latitudes sailing requires additional \u2013 and sometimes very different \u2013 considerations. So, where should you begin when looking for … <\/p>\n