Yachting USA – August 2019

 



 

 

C

CURRENTS> Antarctic Odyssey

14 YACHTINGAUGUST2 0 1 9

co

u

rt

es

y^

vr

ip

ac

k^

W

hen flag-state officials in the Marshall Islands got

word that the owners of the 95-foot Doggersbank Off shore

Gayle Force wanted to cruise to Antarctica, they sent Capt.

Scott Whittaker a letter, questioning whether a boat so small

was even capable of making the trip. ¶ In fact, Gayle Force would become

the smallest private yacht with that nation’s fl ag ever to ex plore so fa r south,

following a 20-month, multimillion-dollar refi t to prepare the boat for the

journey. ¶ A lot of the work included taking out what the original owners

had put in when the boat lau nched a s Patriot in 2003. A Vripack design, she

had an original owner who was into what, back then, was state-of-the-art

technology. ¶ “It was heralded as the most technologically advanced boat under

30 meters,” Whittaker says. “In ‘03, this boat was controlled with touchpads.

This guy had to be working with Steve

Jobs or something, getting technology

that wasn’t available. We’ve spent tons

of time undoing and taking a lot of that

stuff out.” ¶ Getting the boat’s weight

and balance right after several decades

of modifi cations also took time, but in

the end, the new owners got to do their

dream cruise. Whittaker worked with

EYOS Expeditions to plan an itinerary

during a safe weather window, and the

owners explored Antarctica for nearly two

weeks. ¶ “Yes, if you have more capability,

you can go farther or for longer,” says Rob

McCallum, a founding partner at EYOS.

“But even a vessel like Gayle Force, it’s

going to alter people’s perceptions of the

world around them. It’s not a new place, a

new country—it ’s an entire new continent,

and it makes them stop and think about

the makeup of the world as we know it.

Antarctica has that eff ect on people.”

THE BIVY SACK

In order to squeeze an ice pilot

and naturalist on board, Capt.

Scott Whittaker slept in a biv y

sack on the bridge. “You slide in

foot-fi rst,” he says. “It’s Gore-

Tex—waterproof, windproof.”

THE PRE-CRUISE REFIT

BLOEMSMA & VAN BREEMENbuilt the boat as Patriot in 2003. THE DERECKTOR YAR D

in Dania Beach, Florida, was used for the refi t, which took 20 months. THE ORIGINAL

CREW LOUNGEwas turned into a third crew cabin to accommodate an ice pilot and

naturalist. HELM ELECTRONICSwere upgraded for remote-location cruising. HULL

PAINT was redone. NAIAD ZERO-SPEED stabilizers were added. ABOUT 25,

POUNDS OF WEIGHT(including an oversize anchor chain) was removed from the bow.

At the height of Antarctica’s summer—during January and February—the views and wildlife spotting can be spectacular.