Guide for polar voyagers
A voluntary guide for yachts venturing into polar waters is being created to address safety of navigation and voyage planning in the Arctic and Antarctic, following concerns that rescues in remote areas are increasing. High latitudes pioneer and Yachting World columnist Skip
Novak explains:
‘The Polar Yacht Guide is being sponsored by World Sailing, which is proposing that guidance is likely to be more effective than legislation.
‘In recent years, there has been an increase in yachts visiting the polar regions. For example, there have been more transits of the North West Passage in the last decade (193 transits between 2009 and 2019) than the previous ten decades since the first transit by Amundsen in 1906.
‘Many of the these transits were completed by yachts. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean have also become increasingly attractive to adventurous sailors.
‘Most of these expeditions have been successfully completed by well prepared yachts with competent crews. However, there have been a number of exceptions that have resulted in search and rescue operations and potential damage to the environment. This is a cause of concern to search and rescue authorities with limited resources, environmentalists, and politicians.’
To head off mandatory legislation, the Polar Yacht Guide has been put together by a number of experienced sailors, including Novak, with the aim of proving a framework for best practice.