Yvan Bourgnon, French-Swiss sailor-adventurer is preparing for a new adventure aboard his non habitable sports catamaran. After his circumnavigation of the world, he has set himself a new challenge: the Bimedia Challenge, which will consist of crossing the Northwest Passage, between Alaska and Greenland, on a single-handed sports catamaran, without a cabin or assistance. The yachtsman will take advantage of his challenge to raise public awareness of the effects of global warming and testify to the presence of multiple oceanic waste.
A journey through the ice
In mid-June, Yvan Bourgnon will set off from the Bering Strait for a high-risk 7,500 km solo sail. He, who had planned to be accompanied by a team mate, will finally be alone on his uninhabitable catamaran. For two months, he will sail from the Pacific to the Atlantic, passing through the Canadian North in the middle of the ice. From Nome (Alaska) to Ingsugtusok (Greenland), he will cross the Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean and the Baffin Sea.
The Northwest Passage is the northern sea passage that connects the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic islands of Canada's far north. Inaccessible only a few years ago, it can now be crossed due to global warming.
A high-risk course
Yvan Bourgnon will have to face the cold (between -10° and +5°) and icebergs (up to 40 m high). "We're going to have to deal with the cold, but also the capsizing. With a sport catamaran, there is a risk of capsizing and then we would be in a critical situation, as the water is icy." explains the navigator. Premature cooling could also cause his boat to become stuck, such as he explained it to us last January . "Sébastien Roubinet, an adventurer who made the Northwest Passage in 2007, has been locked up in some places." says Yvan. He will also have to keep a permanent watch to avoid the risk of collision with the ice and the pack ice.
The skipper will also have to watch out for bears, attracted by the scent of man and made aggressive by global warming, knowing that they swim at more than 10 km/hour. This danger is omnipresent, all the more so as Yvan will have no shelter aboard his boat and no engine to escape in the event of an attack.
"The experience of my round the world tour allows me to take it up a notch in terms of difficulty. The timing to do the whole Passage in one season is tight, so I'll have to redouble my efforts to try and sail for two months without practically stopping. What's more, the zone is relatively poorly mapped, especially for the shallows, which means that I'll have to sail with a permanent visual inspection. I've reinforced the bows of the boat with Kevlar so that I can touch the ice" says Yvan.
A sport catamaran for a mount
It is once again on board "Ma Louloute" that Yvan Bourgnon will make his crossing. 6.30 m long and 4 m wide are the reduced dimensions of a sport catamaran which will not be suitable for this polar navigation. "We'll leave the boat as is. We'll put a canvas over the benches, to keep the heat in, so it'll be like a kind of tent." had explained the navigator to us.
A challenge to carry messages
Through this Bimedia Challenge, Yvan Bourgnon will carry two messages. The first one is the same since 2010 and his first crossing in a sport catamaran. He wishes to return to the fundamentals of his sport by sailing on a non-habitable, non-motorised craft, moving forward on the sole strength of the wind and using his intuition and his seafaring sense.
The second will be to bear witness to the consequences of climate change and ocean pollution. This will be another opportunity to raise public awareness of the effects of global warming and to alert the public to the presence of multiple ocean wastes, at the global level.
