Many of you will remember Berrimilla’s adventures in 2005:
The veteran yachtsman and long time CYCA member Alex Whitworth  and Peter Crozier  like a challenge. In 1998, sailing Berrimilla, one of the smallest boats in the Sydney to Hobart fleet, they took on the savage storm that hit the race.They made it to the finish line, winning their division.  In 2004/2005 they decided to go one better.

In early January 2005, after Alex and Peter completed the 2004 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, they dismissed the rest of the crew and sailed off eastwards on the long way home to Sydney via Cape Horn, England, Cape of Good Hope and the Southern Ocean.

In July 2005 they sailed in the Rolex Fastnet race winning 11th place on handicap. From Falmouth, England, they then returned to Sydney around the Cape of Good Hope. While at sea in the Southern Ocean, they were awarded the 2005 Seamanship Trophy by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, London, for outstanding seamanship.

Reaching Sydney just 5 days out from the 2005 Rolex Sydney to Hobart, they restocked, recrewed, and made the Boxing Day start line. In Hobart for New Years Eve, then back to Sydney on the 9th of January 2006.

During the voyage Alex and Peter linked up with the crew of the International Space Station. A number of interesting physical, psychological and planning similarities were apparent. As a result of this contact, Alex and Peter were invited by Leroy Chiao, who was the Commander of the ISS during their contacts, to give a presentation about Berrimilla’s voyage to a Symposium on Risk at Louisiana State University, using the voyage as a simple analogue for a journey into deep space.

This lead to an invitation to undertake another, rather more symbolic voyage through the North West Passage to link up with NASA’s Haughton-Mars Project on Devon Island, in time to observe the total solar eclipse on August 1 2008.

So now Berrimilla is on its way to Mars!

Peter was unable to make it this time, so his place has been taken by Corrie McQueen, also a circumnavigator who has sailed from the UK to the Arctic and assisted with running charters around Spitzbergen.

Berrimilla departed Sydney (after spending 2 weeks at the CYCA finalising all preparations for the trip to Mars) on Yuri’s Night, April 12, 2008 – this is party night around the world for many people interested in space exploration.

Berrimilla will sail by the most direct route allowed by the weather and prevailing winds to Dutch Harbour, Alaska, a distance of approximately 6000 miles. After refueling and restocking with beer in Dutch Harbour the intention is to sail through the Bering Strait to the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas and along the north Alaskan coast into Canada. Rate of progress will depend on weather and the effect of global warming on the ice en route. Berrimilla is fibreglass and not ice strengthened and she draws nearly 7 feet, so great care will be needed to avoid dangerous ice and shallow water.

You can find all about the circumnavigation on the website www.berrimilla.com and follow the link DownUnderMars for their current adventure. Both Alex and Corrie are accomplished and witty writers, and their blogs will become a must read over breakfast for anyone interested in sailing and adventure as their odyssey progresses. – Roger Wragby