ANT-ARCTIC-LAB: Extreme Sailing - World Record Attempt

First single-handed, nonstop round the world sailing challenge through the Northwest Passage

Extreme sailor Norbert Sedlacek will sail as the first sailor nonstop, single-handed and without any assistance from Les Sables d’Olonne (FRA) to the Arctic, through the Northwest Passage, down the Pacific Ocean, passing the most dangerous cape in the world Cape Horn to circumnavigate the Antarctic continent. After rounding Cape Horn a second time, the trip will continue north through the Atlantic Ocean to the final destination of Les Sables d'Olonne (FRA).

This world record attempt with a distance of about 34,000 nautical miles (approx. 63,000 km) and a sailing time of approximately 7 month is an indescribable challenge for Norbert Sedlacek and the technology.

The start to this record attempt will take place in the middle of July 2018, the return is planned for the end of February 2019.

Norbert Sedlacek will tackle this record attempt with a 60 foot long racing sailing yacht, which will be made out of an unprecedented mix of materials. The prototype is built entirely from renewable and recyclable materials and thus will proof impressively that contemporary thinking in terms of sustainability stands also in the nautical sector in no contradiction to performance, quality and durability.

Yacht - Open60 AAL (Technical Data)

This unbelievable undertaking will be another extreme sailing adventure for skipper Norbert Sedlacek, as before:

• 1996-1998 first Austrian sailor to circumnavigate single-handed the world
• 2000-2001 first Austrian sailor to circumnavigate nonstop the Antarctic
• 2008-2009 first German speaking skipper and finisher of the Vendée Globe

Skipper Norbert Sedlacek

With approximately 34,000 nautical miles and a nonstop-sailing time of about 7 month is this challenge measured by miles around 1.5 times, measured by the time about twice as long as the Vendée Globe! Both Arctic waters are waiting with all impressive weather conditions, like storms with rough sea, indescribable wave crests, hailstorms, polar coldness and drift ice for the sailing pioneer.

Not only storms and coldness, but also oppressive heat around the equator and the wide doldrum zones will demand from skipper and yacht "everything and a little bit more".

The list of difficulties Sedlacek will have, can be continued for a long time…

If skipper Sedlacek can fulfill this nautical pioneer performance, he will enter again in the sailing history. He will also deliver the proof that on our ever-changing blue planet many almost unimaginable adventures are waiting for us to be experienced!

Norbert Sedlacek will be present on the Salon Nautique in Paris from 4th to 6th December 2015.

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