THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE
Your dream, our engineering
*Image - the 7 Northwest Passage routes
The quest for the passage is one of the world’s severest maritime challenges. The route is located 500 miles north of the Arctic Circle and less than 1,200 miles from the North Pole. It consists of a series of deep channels through Canada’s Arctic Archipelago, extending about 900 miles from east to west, from north of Baffin Island to the Beaufort Sea, above the U.S. state of Alaska.
Reaching the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic requires a hazardous voyage through a stream of tens of thousands of giant Icebergs, which could rise up to 300 feet in height, constantly drifting south between Greenland and Baffin Island.
The exit to the Pacific is equally formidable, because the polar ice cap presses down on Alaska’s shallow north coast much of the year and funnels masses of ice into the Bering Strait, between Alaska and Siberia. (source: britannica.com)
We can proudly say that a Vripack yacht has been designed and engineered to defy these extreme circumstances. With more than 7,300 designs under our belt we know that an exploration yacht does not need to look like one, as long as she has been designed with an explorer's heart and a no-nonsense attitude. Proof of this lies in the many Vripack-designed yachts that have already conquered this severest maritime challenge.
Vripack facts
Why a Vripack should be your no. 1 choice for sailing the NW-Passage.
- After a lot of failed attempts, the NW-Passage was conquered by sea in 1905.
- The first super yacht who ever sailed the NW-Passage was designed by Vripack, her name was Turmoil (now Pioneer) and she made her voyage in 2001.
- A total of 9 NW-Passages have been made by super yachts so far, 5 of them were done by Vripack designed yachts.
- 3 super yachts have sailed the NW-Passage back and forth, including MY Latitude; a 100% Vripack design!
| Year | No. | Yacht | Route |
| 2001 | 87 | Turmoil | West |
| 2010 | 141 | Dione Sky | West |
| 2012 | 169 | Beothuk | West |
| 2014 | 216 | Latitude | West |
| 2015 | 226 | Latitude | East |
Vripack related projects
Video report of an epic voyage
"I asked my captain whether he had any ideas for something unusual instead of the usual Caribbean cruise. He pointed to this passage and said, 'Well, if you really want an adventure we could try and go though the Northwest Passage'. I suspect that he was only joking, because you should have seen the look on his face when I instantly said; LET'S DO IT!"
Anil Thadani - owner MY Latitude