After I´ve published my initial article on Jimmy Cornell´s latest project, the „High Latitiudes Challenge“, I´ve received some interesting comments and it was not until my walkthrough in KM Yachtbuilder´s Bestevaer 54 during last edition of Boot Duesseldorf that my own itching for sailing in this area has been kind of „revived“. You know it: Depending on what one is reading about and what´s in the news, our own dreams tend to follow these topics, just like the current Vendée Globe sparked another round of imagination in us sofa-sailors again …
During Duesseldorf I´ve had the pleasure to sit down and talk to Jimmy Cornell for a while about his aim and the background for starting yet another rally for sailboats. I´ve also met two of those few lucky skippers who not only have the means, but also the time to seriously consider an adventure like Jimmy Cornell´s „High Latitude Challenge“. You may remember my article on the big „D-Check“ on a Garcia Exploration 52? That´s the boat of Peter and Regina. Both joined our little „Arctic-round“ in Duesseldorf and they agreed to give some insight into their motivation, dreams and plans in joining Cornell´s adventure.
Right time, right occasion: Jimmy Cornell´s „High Latitudes Challenge“
After a thorough briefing and check of the „High Latitudes Challenge“-guidelines provided by Jimmy, Peter and Regina registered as the first German crew for this sailing adventure around the Americas. I´ve red those guidelines myself: Jimmy Cornell is pretty specific about the boat´s capabilities (it should be an aluminium yacht) and more so on the crew´s experience. Regina and Peter both have no problem whatsoever: They just came back from a five year circumnavigation with BLUEWAY. That´s some 55.000 nautical miles of seafaring credibility right there.
Regina takes out a pile of printing-fresh smelling books and puts them on the table. The logbook of sailing yacht BLUEWAY, transcribed and put into this form, stuffed with pictures, charts, plotter screenshots and comments. Something their children and grandchildren surely would love to roam through, certainly a great way of preserving their memories of this extraordinary voyage. I begin to ask Peter and Regina some questions regarding their new adventure, joining Jimmy Cornell´s round America-fleet.
The whole route starts in Cherbourg – that´s the location where the Garcias and Allures-Yachts are being built – and takes the fleet around the Americas. Regina and Peter tell me that they incorporated only a part of Jimmy Cornell´s sailing adventure into their long term plans: „We will join Jimmy and the fleet for the Northwest-Passage on the Pacific side“, Peter says. „We haven´t really started the detailed planning of our next big trip, but reading about the „High Latitudes Challenge“ sounded very interesting: In the end, ever participant will profit from Jimmy Cornell´s huge treasure trove of sailing experience when taking part. That´s very tempting!“
Hop on – hop off around the Americas
The whole „High Latitudes Challenge“ is a venture of some two years. Jimmy knows for sure that disconnicting yourself from the world for two full years is often not possible for many people. In this, the sailing adventure is structured like a sightseeing bus tour through London: You may „hop on“ and „hop off“ at specific locations. That´s the entrance door for Regina and Peter, for them, the Northwest-Passage is the most interesting part of the route. „Most of the places along the route we have already seen“, says Regina, „it´s the far North that´s of most interest for us.“
„Currently we are planning to stay in Sweden for most of 2025. This sailing area is of utter beauty and we want to explore the rich Archipelago with BLUEWAY first hand. When the year draws to a close we plan to cross the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean and stay there for New Year´s Eve.“ Peter nods and amends: „Beginning of 2026 we will transit Panama Canal and sail towards French Polynesia. This fantastic island world has catched our imagination back in 2022 already when we´ve been there for the first time with BLUEWAY. There´s so much more to see: Because of the Covid-craze we couldn´t see those interesting countries like Tonga which was completely cordoned off in 2021 already. After this it´s due course towards British Columbia and there we will meet Jimmy Cornell and his fleet to sail through the Northwest-Passage.” What a plan, right?
About their motivation to tackle the „High Latitudes Challenge“
So what are the most driving factors for both Regina and Peter but also for Jimmy Cornell to tackle such a big adventure? I mean, Jimmy is 85 years now. He is energetic, funny and sharp as always, but 85 years is an age when most other people wouldn´t even dare to … catch a hop-on/hop off bus in London. So what drives you, Jimmy? He does not have to think for a long time. Talking about his top 5 places to see on this trip, he says that seeing those places again is a matter of the heart for him.
He shows a picture of his AVENTURA 3, photographed from well above. „That was Antarctica“, he says. A place that is set for the „High Latitudes Challenge“. The plan is to dash down from Ushuaia and Cape Horn to pay a visit to the southernmost mythic Continent. „It´s a unique and profoundly changing experience to be there“, Jimmy says. Making this experience possible to share with other people is driving him. In this, I ask, his sailing adventure may not something for the starters, right? Jimmy nods: „It shouldn´t be your inaugurational sailing voyage for sure.“
Something, Regina and Peter on BLUEWAY couldn´t care less about. Their sailing experience is way beyond ours, being ordinary coastal and vacational skippers. I ask Peter about the regatta-aspect of Jimmy Cornell´s event: „No, for us, racing isn´t of any interest. Of course we like to sail quick, as any sailor does, but for us the safe and comfortable voyage is of most interest. We like to put in a reef rather early than being late. We don´t sail with Gennaker at night in the darkness, for example.“ Regina says: „We try to be as material-friendly as we can. Safe and relaxed – this is how we want to reach the destinations along our route.“
Getting their Garcia Exploration ready
Currently BLUEWAY is on the dry. The boat returned last year from their big circumnavigation and has been taken out of the water. The service shipyard has subjected the yacht a thorough and very meticulous check-up, the one you´ve read about recently. Now, some refit works and serious upgrades are underway in Bremerhaven, where the boat is located. Peter: „First of all, after 55.000 nautical miles we have the whole aluminium hull and the deck properly sanded. The UV-damage was pretty apparent and we want to have a freshened-up look for the yacht.“
The hull of the yacht had been painted with a special glossy paint. Peter says that for the first three years that paint looked amazing but then UV-rays started to collect their toll: „The paint peeled off largely, which started to look nasty. Now we decided to let the whole hull as it is: Pure aluminium!“ Regina amends that the decking made of natural Cork worked fine: „Cork is fantastic! The biggest advantage is that even during high intensity sunshine the deck can still be roamed barefeet. Amazing! It´s safe and absolutely skid-proof, extremely low-care and it drys pretty fast.“ Nevertheless, Regina adds, the downsides are that now the soft parts of the Cork have been worn down and thus the nice haptics are gone. „That is why the shipyard will sand the deck as well to refresh those properties.“
The couple will have all the piping of galley and bathrooms taken out and renewed. Also, the cockpit will be completely re-painted: „That isn´t really necessary as there are only smaller defects in the paint, but we just want a spotless BLUEWAY „like new“. We spend most of our time here in the cockpit, you know?“ Peter adds that all mechanical components and machinery of the yacht will undergo a thorough refit. „That´s basically the Volvo-Penta engine, the generator and of course our desalinator.“ All maintenance will be done as well as wear parts renewed. That´s a pretty large project …
A focus on sails and standing rigging
After their 55.000 nautical miles trip Peter and Regina have developed a thorough understanding and rich experience in the sailing capabilities of their yacht. That is why the refit-program also contains a big part regarding rigging and sails. Peter explains: „Our sail cloth made from Hydranet has taken the wear and tear of that trip absolutely fine but they are nearing the end of their service lives. So we will put on a completely new set of sails before the next big trip because now it is possible the easiest way. We will also take out and put on completely new running rigging as a safety precaution.“ Being on the rugging topic anyway, Regina and Peter decided to take off the whole mast as well: „Well, the wish for a lighter rigging was compelling. We want a slightly taller and much lighter mast. You see, the sailing capabilities of our Exploration 52 are absolutely fantastic! We only see problems under 10 knots TWS and ocanic swell from abaft. In those conditions we tended to use the engine because this was the most comfortable way of sailing …“
This constant hammering on the rigging combined with the mass of the standard aluminium rigging had taken its toll on the material: „Especially the large swell in the Indian Ocean was literally killing the material! We have some damage on the rodkicker, the mast-fittings and the gooseneck. Impossible to prevent.“ A new Carbon rigging will solve that problem: Better sailing capabilities in light winds, less loads. Regina says that their experience with solar power also led to some improvements done now during the big winter-refit: „Our experience is that we could almost completely manage reloading of our batteries by means of solar power and hydrogeneration. But BLUEWAYs capacity of 520 Watts pealk of solar power and 100 to 300 Watts by hydro isn´t just quite enough for being self-sufficient in non-optimal conditons.“ They had to use the Diesel generator. Which brought up the next issue – the batteries: „We currently have gel-batteries for our domestic consumtion. They add up to 620 Amp-hours and that is not sufficient for us, as we had to learn.“ In this, the couple will have all service-batteries substituted with latest Lithium technology, moreover since BLUEWAY´s consumtion has been increased by Starlink or Sea AI (formerly Oscar). „When we had ordered BLUEWAY at the shipyard some years ago, we had the boat fitted already for this.“
Let´s go!
Sitting down with Jimmy Cornell and the sailing couple, it´s still some time to go until BLUEWAY will hit the water again. Even more time until Jimmy Cornell sets sails with his fleet: „I am blown away by the overwhelming feedback of the sailing community“, Jimmy says: Up until now there are over 30 inscriptions so that he fears having to limit the entries. For sure, the “High Latitudes Challenge” is something all look forward to – inspite of the many work still to be done.
„We plan to put BLUEWAY back to the water at the end of April this year. We will have all refit works and especially the new fittings thoroughly tested and shake out the teething troubles before we cast off for our Sweden-adventure (LINK).“, says Peter. Jimmy smiles as he knows that this might be the best of all the great set of emotions a skipper can experience – the pleasant anticipation of a big adventure of a lifetime finally about to happen.
Thanks Regina, Peter and Jimmy for granting this insight: For your projects all the best, we will remain connected for sure.
You might also find interesting to check out these related articles:
Aboard the Garcia Exploration 45 with Jimmy Cornell
„Luxploration“: The new Garcia Exploration 60 sets a new level of adventure-comforts
Jimmy Cornell and his „High Latitude Challenge“-project (ext. Link)