Quantum’s Large Expedition Yacht Sails Power Skip Novak’s Pelagic Expeditions

Skip Novak
Skip Novak was born in the US in 1952 and is now based in Cape Town. Skip has an extremely illustrious sailing career but is probably best known for his participation in four Whitbread Round the World Yacht Races:

In 1977, at the tender age of 25 years, Skip was navigator on the British Cutter Kings Legend, which won 2nd place. Then, in the 1985/86 Whitbread Race, Skip skippered Simon Le Bon's Drum, coming 3rd. He wrote a book entitled "One Watch at a Time" about this experience and it was published in England and the States.
In 1989 he project managed and skippered Fazisi, the first Soviet entry in the Whitbread Race, and he chronicled this watershed event in his book "Fazisi - The Joint Venture" which was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award in Britain. 

Besides his Whitbread races, Skip has many other very impressive yachting achievements to his name:

In 1979, Skip skippered Independent Endeavour to victory on the Parmelia Race from Plymouth to Freemantle, Australia.

Wishing to combine his mountaineering skills (New Zealand and the Alps, expeditions to East Africa, Sikkim, Nepal, Patagonia, South Georgia and Antarctica) with sailing, Skip then built the expedition yacht Pelagic in Southampton in 1987 and has since spent fifteen seasons in Antarctic waters, twelve of which were spent leading combined climbing and filming projects based from the vessel. 

In 1993 and again in 1996 he and Pelagic were featured in programs for ESPN which were aired worldwide. Skip is frequently asked to comment on high latitude adventuring and ocean sailing by radio, TV and print media and is a regular contributor to many sailing magazines worldwide and also for the Daily Telegraph in London.

In the last six years, Skip has from time to time returned to top-level ocean racing on large multihulls. In 1997 he navigated the French catamaran Explorer to a sailing record in the Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu in a time of 5 days and 9 hours. In 1998, he and Bruno Peyron co-skippered Explorer, breaking the sailing record from Yokohama to San Francisco in a record time of 14 days and 17 hours. Then from January to March 2001, Skip co-skippered the 33 meter French catamaran Innovation Explorer to a second place in The Race, the millennium non-stop, no limits circumnavigation race.

In 2002 and 2003 Skip project managed the construction of the new flagship for Pelagic Expeditions in Durban, South Africa. The Pelagic Australis is a 23 metre or 72 foot purpose-built expedition vessel made especially for high latitude sailing. Pelagic Australis was needed to add to the charter operations of the original Pelagic. Launched in September 2003, Pelagic Australis is Pelagic Expeditions’ flag ship.

Pelagic Australis’ Quantum Sails

Durability is also the primary requirement of large expedition and round the world racing yachts. The entire fleet of ten 68 foot yachts built for the Clipper Round the World Race have had their sails provided by Quantum South Africa. The 72 foot Pelagic Australis is perhaps a more demanding yacht when looking at the issue of sail durability. Pelagic Australis is very much designed and built to operate unassisted and unsupported in the most hostile sailing environments of the Antarctic. With a full suit of Quantum Sails, Pelagic Australis has sailed tens of thousands of miles through blizzards and storms.
Pelagic Australis’ sail inventory supplied by Quantum Sails in Cape Town consists of a mainsail, staysail, intermediate jib, large Genoa and an asymmetrical spinnaker.

The sails are all made from heavy duty Dacron, with the exception of the new staysail which is made from Fusion with Double Taffeta, giving it extreme durability. The fibres are carbon and Vectran. The mainsail is double-stitched at the seams for extra reinforcing,

In 2007, Skip Novak did the first major refit of Pelagic Australis in three years  in Cape Town and the original sails were sent to Quantum for inspection, Amazingly, they had done an incredible 80 000 nautical Miles in that time, and had not been off the boat at all in that time.

Said Skip of the sails, “… the sails have been out and about for three years and 80 000 miles, that’s equivalent to three times around the world, and they are still all in one piece, and they’re fine! So I am extremely pleased with Quantum and all their back-up support, it is first class.”

Skip also said that the sails were “quite an accolade” for Quantum and that the sails were “incredibly well-built”.
Skip was back in Cape Town in August 2008 for a minor refit and Quantum made a new mainsail and a new staysail for Pelagic Australis.

Why does Skip choose Cape Town for his refits?
“The boat is really a South African boat,” says Skip, “we built it here in Durban and the mast was built here at Sparcraft and the sails were made by Quantum in Cape Town. Everything was installed here and we are coming back here as our base for obvious reasons – there is a lot of support, and the people here know the boat.”

“Cape Town has always been a great place for me to work, since I have such a long history here of twenty years now, longer actually.” Skip chuckles. “So I know my way around Paarden Eiland and Montague Gardens probably better than Chicago, where I grew up. It’s a very concentrated place to do refits, in that respect, everything is in a  few areas right next to the harbour, which is sort of unique in the word.”
It also goes without saying that Cape Town is also very good value for refits of international boats.

The Pelagic Fleet
So how does one build a boat to withstand the incredible conditions that Skip and his crew face? What are the two Pelagic boats like?

The fleet consists of the tried and tested original Pelagic and the newer Pelagic Australis. Pelagic Australis evolved from 15 years of experience in the Arctic and Southern Oceans and can take up to ten passengers and two crew members in comparatively good comfort, sailing with fair speed. It is 72 foot long and is built from aluminium and is very robust in order to withstand very harsh conditions, with a lifting keel. She weighs an incredible 55 tons when fully loaded. The interior is completely designed to meet expedition needs and the vessel is equipped with the latest Inmarsat Fleet 77 satellite communications unit which facilitates running online and storing and forwarding filming projects. The vessel is certified by DNV (Det Norske Veritas), has an MCA (Marine and Coastguard Agency from the UK) certificate for carrying passengers and is CE marked.

The original 54 foot Pelagic carries up to 6 passengers and two crew members and continues to offer the well proven standard service and is also suitable as a filming and logistic support vessel on two boat expeditions.

And what sort of trips and charters do these amazing vessels do? Options to group charter or sail as an individual with the Pelagic fleet come in three broad categories, namely Southern Hemisphere, Northern Hemisphere and delivery voyages between the two areas.  Pelagic Australis transits between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres twice a year, going Northwards in April/May and returning South in October/November. Places are available on these trips for those who wish to claim an equator crossing at sea, build significant ocean miles and/or brush up their sailing skills and celestial navigation with a qualified RYA instructor with a view to taking their RYA exams.

The Pelagic fleet is also available for expedition charter to high latitude  destinations in both Hemispheres, including but not limited to Antarctica, Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn, the Falkland Islands, the island of South Georgia, the Chilean Channels, Spitzbergen, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Labrador.
A concept rather than simply sailing vessel, Skip Novak's Pelagics are designed and built specifically to operate in remote areas on long term projects and delivery voyages between the two areas. 

Both Pelagics are suitable for climbing project support, scientific field research, adventure sailing expeditions, wildlife cruises, dive excursions, film making support, gap year adventure and expeditions and building sea time and experience on delivery trips.

Pelagic Expeditions certainly is quite a concept. But then one should expect no less from a man of Skip Novak’s experience and ability, and one should expect that Skip chooses Quantum Sails in Cape Town as one of his vital partners for his incredible project.

For more information on Quantum’s Expedition Sails, contact Tony Strutt at Quantum Sails in Cape Town on telephone + 27 21 5931620 or at email tony@quantumsails.co.za

For more information on Skip Novak’s Pelagic Expeditions, take a look at www.pelagic.co.uk

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