SETTING RECORDS AND PROVING CONCEPTS
Skipper Norbert Sedlacek set sail in mid-august from Les Sables d’olonne, France, chasing the claim to become the first man to sail unassisted, nonstop, and singlehanded 32,000 nautical miles around the world, through five oceans, and both the north and the south polar regions. Sedlacek hopes to complete the voyage in 165 days aboard his innovative 60-foot Open60 AAL, or Ant Arctic Lab, Innovation. His quest aims to highlight climate change and put to the test several innovative yacht-design concepts.
The first leg of the sail takes him west of the British Isles and north to Svalbard, Norway, where the route rounds the archipelago’s northern coast counterclockwise, sailing into the Arctic Ocean and passing through the polar regions at 80 degrees north. From there the plan is to sail south, cutting between Iceland and Greenland, then dropping south through the Atlantic before turning left at the Cape of Good Hope. A long, dangerous slog routes Innovation through the Indian Ocean and the Pacific’s Roaring Forties to Cape Horn, where another left turn sends the ship north back into the Atlantic, past Brazil and back to France. Designed and constructed by Innovation Yachts, Sedlacek’s Open60 AAL is built from volcanic-rock fiber, balsa wood and biocompatible epoxy. The materials are 100 percent sustainable and recyclable, according to the Ant Arctic Lab team. The sail locker carries 3,121 square feet of working sail. The boat is powered by two Oceanvolt SD10 10-kilowatt engines and carries eight 400-watt solar panels and two 100-watt solar panels, and requires no fossil fuels. Sedlacek competed in the Transat in 2004, and has twice competed in the Vendée Globe, finishing 11th in 2009. His start and finish port, Les Sables d’olonne, is also the home of the Vendée. Follow Innovation’s journey at ant-arctic-lab.com/tracking-overview.