Can a design drawing inspiration from imoca 60s meet the unforgiving demands of high latitudes cruising? David Glenn sails a yacht that aims to achieve just that
If there were an award for brutalism in naval architecture Qilak would surely be on the podium. Her stark, purposeful, bare aluminum features look ideally suited to her owner’s plan to seek out high latitudes expedition adventure. But that’s only half the story behind this fascinating yacht.
Qilak will spend the northern hemisphere summer in the Arctic then make a 12,000-mile dash south to Antarctica via the Cape Verde Islands and Montevideo to take advantage of the austral summer. En route, she will undergo a refit and bunker the special regulation diesel fuel needed to operate in those waters.
She’ll undertake this programme with up to eight paying guests and four crew including ice pilots and other specialist guides when required. For any yacht, it’s quite an ask.
So to complete what owner and skipper Philippe Carlier calls Qilak’s ‘ice to ice’ delivery, speed is of the essence. And it is the combination of speed and the ability to survive the hazards of high latitudes sailing which presented Qilak’s designers and owner with the challenges that define this yacht.
The 66ft/20.07m Qilak – her name is Inuit for the sky or celestial sphere – was built by KM Yachtbuilders in Makkum in the Netherlands. The company specializes in tough, uncompromising, custom-designed yachts for long distance cruising and has attracted many experienced clients.
Disciplines unlikely bedfellows
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2019 من Yachting World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 2019 من Yachting World.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
wallywind 110 launches
The first example of Wally Yacht's new wallywind performance cruising range launched this summer, during the iconic Italian brand's 30th anniversary year - and in time for its debut at the Monaco Yacht Show in September.
Irish skipper wins Figaro
Irish solo skipper Tom Dolan took a historic victory in this year's La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec, winning the solo multistage offshore race overall only the third non-French competitor ever to do so.
Youth AC puts on a show
Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's team won the UniCredit Youth America's Cup after a highly absorbing series comprising 12 international teams racing the one-design AC40s off Barcelona.
ATLANTIC BEYOND
SAILING THE SECOND EXPLORATION 60 ON A WEST-TO-EAST ATLANTIC CROSSING WAS IDEAL FOR A RIGOROUS TEST OF GARCIA'S NEW NOWHERE YOU CAN'T GO FLAGSHIP
UNCONTROLLED
HELPLESSLY APPROACHING AN UNINHABITED ISLAND IN THE GALAPAGOS WITHOUT ENGINE OR ELECTRONICS, JON VAN TAMELEN FEARED BEING IMMINENTLY SHIPWRECKED
SECRET ISLAND
BEYOND THE FORBIDDING ENTRY RULES OF TAIWAN IS A CULTURE RICH IN SEAFARING HISTORY AND STUNNING LANDSCAPES, FINDS CAMERON DUECK
LAND OF THE BIRDS
SKIP NOVAK DESCRIBES THE PERILS, CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF A CRITICAL EXPEDITION VOAYGE TO SURVEY SOUTH GEORGIA'S ENDANGERED WANDERING ALBATROSS
FIRST STEPS TO BLUEWATER
YOU CAN GET INTO WORLD CRUISING FROM A STANDING START AND EXPERIENCE THINGS NO OTHER TRAVELLERS DO. CATHERINE LAWSON AND DAVID BRISTOW TALK TO FOUR COUPLES WHO PROVE IT
HARD CHOICES
IN AN EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM HER NEW BOOK, PIP HARE REVEALS WHAT DROVE HER ON WHILE RACING THROUGH THE SOUTHERN OCEAN IN THE 2020 VENDÉE GLOBE.
INTO BATTLE
COULD THIS BE THE MOST COMPETITIVE VENDÉE GLOBE EVER? HELEN FRETTER FINDS OUT WHAT THE SKIPPERS WILL BE FACING.
