The grim realisation that climate change is making a once unthinkable passage possible – circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle – has prompted one sailor to raise awareness of it, in the most awe-inspiring way


E Words: James Stewart


lla Hibbert is running through the to-do list to ready her Bruce Roberts 38, Yeva, for the season. There’s a new stern gland and propeller shaft to fit. The running and standing rigging needs to be


replaced and the steel hull requires shot- blasting and anti-fouling. All that before we get to the interior. As a new boating season begins I expect


many of us have similar lists. There’s a major difference, however. Yeva’s refit took place in January. While we were daydreaming about summer cruising, the 27-year-old was bashing into a frigid Solent alone, notching up sea miles before an April shakedown cruise, chasing storms ‘to make sure anything we haven’t thought about, that’s not quite right, gets tweaked and sorted’. At the time of writing, if all has gone well


Ella will slip lines at Haslar Marina, Gosport, in mid-to-late June and sail to Norway. Then she will attempt the first solo circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle. Two world-firsts – going around non-stop


and going around single-handed – weren’t her original plan. In fact, you can describe this as a Northwest Passage cruise that got out of hand. Ella explains: ‘The more I looked into the ice-routing and weather-routing, I realised the decline of the ice meant it


THE ARCTIC rya.org.uk SPRING 2024 29


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Photo: Getty


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