Attempt to sail Northeast Passage across Arctic begins

Sep 11, 2015 After two years of planning, a trimaran recently set sail across the Arctic Sea in an attempt to set a non-stop sailing record for the route from Europe to the Pacific.

The crew, Jochen Krauth and Quentin Monegier of France, Boris Herrmann and Tim Bastian Frank of Germany, and Sergei Nizovtsev from Russia, joined Guo Chuan on the dock and were given a musical send-off.

Organizers said the World Sailing Speed Record Council officially declared the start of Qingdao China’s Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage world record challenge at 13:41gmt on September 3.

Crew member Quentin Monegier took an important radio call early in the attempt and received news that his wife was delivered of a baby boy.

The crew plans to sail the entire Northeast Passage non-stop from Murmansk to the Bering Strait, which divides Russia and USA’s Alaska. This would be the first non-stop sailing record for the route from Europe to the Pacific.