International sailors eye Northwest Passage for 2017 yacht race

The SAIL route, mapped here, shows the seven cities and communities the Sailing the Arctic Race plans to visit. (IMAGE COURTESY OF SAIL)

Crews will travel aboard a fleet of volcanic fibre STAR46 racing yachts, to be constructed by a Canadian shipmaker. (IMAGE COURTESY OF SAIL)

A group of international sailors plan to race a fleet of volcanic-fiber yachts through the Northwest Passage in 2017, in what will be the first event of its kind.

The 14,000-kilometre race will depart from New York harbour in July 2017 and set off north across the Arctic.

Stops are planned in Halifax, Nuuk, Cambridge Bay, Tuktoyaktuk, and Dutch Harbour, Alaska, before sailors are expected to arrive in Victoria, B.C. three to four months later.

Sailing the Arctic Race — or “SAIL” — is the brainchild of Victoria, B.C. resident Robert Molnar, a life-long sailor.

“Rapid climate change has hit the Arctic hard,” says SAIL’s website. “For the first time in human history it is possible to sail over the top of North America in a single season.”

To do that, crews will travel aboard a fleet of volcanic fibre STAR46 racing yachts, which feature a 46-foot hull and 62-foot mast. Each vessel has seven sails and is designed to hold a crew of six.

SAIL has only one competitor signed up so far: a team from Spain, captained by skipper Javier Sanso.

But SAIL has sparked interest from teams in China, Australia, Brazil and throughout Europe and North America, and expects to register at least eight teams to compete.

A growing number of yachts are taking advantage of the longer ice-free season to make their way through the Northwest Passage each year.

Although there are no specific yacht visit statistics gathered for Nunavut, a 2013 report commissioned for Transport Canada recorded pleasure craft traffic through the Canadian Arctic starting from 1990.

Through the 1990s, no more than a handful of ships came through each year, although that number quickly picked up in the late 2000s.

But 2012, 25 ships were recorded travelling through the Canadian Arctic.

Adventure-seekers must come prepared for the elements, though: in 2013, a group of jet-skiers doing an around-the-world journey for a reality television show had to be rescued by the Coast Guard in the Franklin Strait, near Gjoa Haven.

Organizers say they are planning the route with help from experienced Arctic sailors.

Race organizers have also pledged to leave as small a footprint as possible.

“It is a privilege to be able to sail the oceans of the world and visit remote wildernesses like the Arctic and STAR is working hard to ensure a net zero impact of the race,” said SAIL’s website.

“We are developing one of the greenest, most environmentally conscious on-the-water events in the world and working hard to spread awareness of marine and Arctic conservation issues. “