Jamcat

The catamaran left the port of Arzal to tackle one of the planet’s most mythical journeys: the crossing of the Northwest Passage, from the coast of Greenland to the Bering Strait. If in the past, this passage has long been looked upon enviously with a view to finding a northern trade access route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, it was not until the beginning of the 20th century, after many attempts, that the Norwegian Roald Amundsen succeeded in crossing it. It took him three years, from 1903 to 1906. Since then, about forty crews have crossed it, under sail or motor, but also sometimes under sail alone or even rowing, mainly from west to east. For us, we have just started this 9,000-mile route: we will pass through the Faroe Islands, then Iceland, before getting to the entrance of the passage at the end of July. We are then planning a minimum of one months’ sailing along the Canadian islands of Nunavut, and around Alaska via the Aleutian Islands, before arriving near Anchorage in mid- September. The main difficulty will be to find a way through the ice that only opens up for a few weeks in summer. Nothing is guaranteed in advance. Our multihull is ready. Jamcat is a 50-foot aluminum cat designed by Gilbert Caroff, a Lazzi 1402, and the crew is prepared too. It will be made up of an average of 6 people who will take turns at different stages of the journey. We have been thinking about this trip since our childhood when we read the stories of the polar adventurers, especially Paul-Emile Victor. Today it is finally happening. To be continued at the end of July when we will enter Lancaster Sound!