Media Articles

Click here to download ATF Media Package (PDF)

The following articles provide a useful insight to the project.

The Telegraph.co.uk article found at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?xml=/earth/2008/03/30/earctic130.xml

Northwest Passage lures British explorers
By Jasper Copping

The Northwest Passage is one of the most fabled, and treacherous, sea routes in the world. Many sailors have perished in its freezing Arctic waters after their ships became encased in ice.
Now, as climate change takes hold, British explorers are trying to become the first to sail through the Northwest Passage from east to west, relying solely on wind and oars.

The expedition will demonstrate the advance of climate change, which scientists say is thawing out the Northwest Passage for longer periods each summer. This has raised the possibility that the route could become an important shipping channel, in a move that would revolutionise trade by offering a short cut between western Europe and the Far East.

Boom times could be on the way for backwaters such as Iqaluit, in the far north-east of Canada, where a deep-water port is planned. A crew of former and serving soldiers will use a lightweight 28ft catamaran with reinforced hulls which, if the sea freezes over, can ride up on to and sail across large stretches of ice.

Setting out from Plymouth, the crew plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland, go through the Northwest Passage to Alaska, then return to Britain via the Panama Canal. Not only does the voyage go against the prevailing currents, and the lethal ice floes carried on them but it will also amount to the first full circumnavigation of the North American continent without engines.

Increased use of the Northwest Passage has led to international disputes. Canada claims full rights over those parts of the route that pass through its territory, while America and European Union say it should be an international strait open to any vessel. The Northwest Passage offers the prospect of a becoming a "Panama of the North". Explorers spent about 500 years searching for the potentially lucrative seaway.

Many died, most notably Sir John Franklin, a British sailor whose 1845 expedition ended in the deaths of all 129 members when their two ships were caught in the ice.The first successful navigation was in 1907, when Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who would later beat Robert Scott to the South Pole, completed a three-year passage in a 70ft converted herring boat called Gjøa, using sails and a 13-horsepower engine.

Only a handful of yachts have passed along the route. These have mostly been large, fitted with engines to push ahead in light wind and when threatened by encroaching ice. Even with the aid of motors, most have been overwhelmed by the ice, taking more than one season to reach the end.
The British crew will use a small, fast, ocean-going vessel which is being built in Plymouth.
The challenge, called "Against the Floe", is led by Bob Beggs, 48, a former soldier from 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery and a winner of the Clipper Round the World Race.

"I love adventure and was inspired at an early age by the tales of Franklin and the many other early explorers," he said. "My background with 29 Commando has also been a major factor.

"I spent 10 winters in Norway and loved it. That, combined with my passion for the sea, make this the perfect challenge." He will be accompanied for different legs of the journey by three former colleagues from his unit, Ian Rivers, Shaun Robertson and Darren Thompson, and is still seeking crew for some stretches. Mr Thompson, 42, said: "We all have Arctic experience and have developed a love of the area. The attraction is the chance to do something that has never been done before and the thrill is the chance to sail against the flow, with all those hundreds of tons of ice coming at you.

"I love the idea of the British doing something first."

The Northwest Passage is only passable for a few weeks of the year, when the ice retreats enough to open up channels of water. The team must set off from Britain in early June in order to reach Alaska by September, when the route will freeze over.The region remains one of the most inhospitable on the planet, and the crew will have to cope with sub-zero temperatures, dense pockets of ice floes and frequent storms, as well as polar bears. "We will carry a weapon, but we want to shoot bears with cameras, not guns," Mr Beggs said. "We hope that noise should be enough to scare them off." The vessel will not be equipped with any kind of engine or generator, and all power will be provided by solar and wind energy. In very light winds, the crew will maintain momentum by rowing.

scuttlebutteurope article found at

http://www.scuttlebutteurope.com/scuttlebutt-europe-1466-20-march.html

Skipper on Course to Set a World First
Round-The-World yacht race skipper Bob Beggs is on course for the start of the toughest sailing challenge left - a polar circumnavigation of the North American continent, and transit of the North West Passage from Atlantic to Pacific under sail power alone.

Bob, skipper of the victorious Bristol Clipper in the 2001 Times Clipper round-the-world race, unveiled his plans at a media launch in Plymouth Wednesday March 19 together with the first hull of the 8.4m (29ft) catamaran in which he will set out from the Devon city in early June. While several small craft have completed the dangerous passage through ice floes and fierce storms, they have all relied on engine power. Bob regards the light but immensely strong and well-tried catamaran design as ideal for the 20,000-mile voyage.

The project is being supported by several major British marine companies and has been titled "Against The Floe" as the transit through the North West Passage will be against the prevailing currents.
Bob, together with his two-man crew, will have a weather and ice window of less than 12 weeks to sail from Plymouth to Greenland and onwards to transit the North West Passage into the Beaufort Sea.

This is plymouth article found at http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/

BOB TAKES ON RECORD CHALLENGE
JANE O'MARA HERALD REPORTER
07:30 - 20 March 2008

Plymouth adventurer Bob Beggs has taken on what is believed to be the toughest challenge in sailing, aiming to set a double world first.Mr Beggs and his crew will set off in June to circumnavigate the North American continent, and sail through the North West Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific using sail-power alone. Called Against the Floe, it will be the first east-west journey through the North West Passage and circumnavigation of America, under sail and oar alone, and against the currents.Mr Beggs will be joined by his compatriots former 29 Commando Marine and mountain climber Ian Rivers, and Shaun Robertson, also formerly of 29 Commando, on a catamaran.They will set off in early June and will have a "window of opportunity" of less than 12 weeks, when the Arctic ice sheet diminishes, to complete the voyage.And members of the public who believe they are up to the challenge are welcome to join the crew on some of the latter legs.
Mr Beggs chose the 17th century Royal Citadel in Plymouth, home to his former Royal Marine unit 29 Commando, to announce his plans to the world.
He said: "It's a challenge. I spent 10 winters in Norway and I enjoy the outdoors and the cold. My belief is no one has sailed that complete journey - it will be a first."It's there to be done. It melds my history and skills together. I've gone as far as I can in sailing and I still enjoy it, but the challenge is less."
Anyone interested in joining the expedition will need to have good survival skills or have spent a lot of time outdoors, and will probably have sailing knowledge. Mr Beggs also appealed for potential sponsors to get in touch.

Cowes on Line article found at http://www.cowes.co.uk/zonexml/story?story_id=4142;cp=0

Bob Beggs launches Against the Floe

West Country sailor Bob Beggs has launched a new challenge which will see him attempt a transit through the North West Passage and a circumnavigation of North America under sail power alone.

Beggs winning skipper of the 2001 Times Clipper round-the-world race, unveiled his plans at a media launch in Plymouth together with the first hull of the 8.4m (29ft) catamaran in which he will set out from the Devon city in early June.While several small craft have completed the dangerous passage through ice floes and fierce storms, they have all relied on engine power. Beggs regards the light but immensely strong and well-tried catamaran design as ideal for the 20,000-mile voyage.
As well as sailing to victory in the Clipper race, he has won his class in both the Single-Handed and Two-Handed Trans Atlantic Yacht Races sailing similar Dazcats, designed by Darren Newton, of Millbrook in Cornwall. The project has been named Against the Floe as the transit through the North West Passage will be against the prevailing currents. Beggs and a two-man crew, will have a weather and ice window of less than 12 weeks to sail from Plymouth to Greenland and onwards to transit the North West Passage into the Beaufort Sea. The yacht is from the design board of Darren Newton and is being built in Plymouth. The 8.5m Dazcat has been specifically designed for the journey and is a hybrid of Darren and Bob’s Clarks Active Air. Originally with Clarks Shoes sponsorship, Active Air was to compete in both the Two-handed Trans-Atlantic Race and the Ostar, winning her class and thus proving her ocean going creditability. She also competed in the Three Peaks Race gaining a creditable third place. The choice of vessel was determined by the need to be lightweight, to enable the crew to drag the craft up the beach or on to the ice if required, have high power to weight ratio to enable sailing in the lightest of breezes and to have a shallow draft so it can sail close inshore and be beached if necessary.

PPL media article found at www.covari.com/ppl/fr_defn.lasso

TOP SKIPPER ON COURSE TO SET A WORLD FIRST
ROUND-THE-WORLD yacht race skipper BOB BEGGS is on course for the start of the toughest sailing challenge left - a polar circumnavigation of the North American continent, and transit of the North West Passage from Atlantic to Pacific under sail power alone.

Bob, skipper of the victorious BRISTOL CLIPPER in the 2001 Times Clipper round-the-world race, unveiled his plans at a media launch in Plymouth on Wednesday March 19th together with the first hull of the 8.4m (29ft) catamaran in which he will set out from the Devon city in early June 2008.
Full details on Bob's challenge can be found at www.againstthefloe.com

PPL will be covering the 28 leg circumnavigation and pictures are accessible in the Events folder.