Arctic Heroes!

Pictured: Peter 1 passing through thick ice

A crew of youngsters first formed during The Tall Ships Races 2009 have been making history this summer. 

The 7 young Russians onboard Class D vessel Peter 1 have become the first to make the 12,000 mile passage around the North Pole in one season, without the use of an ice-breaker.

The brave crew left their home port of Saint Petersburg on the 4th June and sailed around Scandinavia to arrive in the port of Murmansk on the 6th July.  From here they set off on their Arctic passage on the 16th July and 2 months, 4 days later on the 20th September, they successfully completed their challenge.

Their Captain Daniil Garilov and Chief Mate Elena Solovieva are just 25 years old and their crew were all aged between 21 and 24. 

To find out more about these Arctic heroes (pictured below) and their incredible journey you can visit

the project’s website http://www.rusarc.ru/ where you will find blogs and photographs from the crew. 

You can also contact Captain Dan Gavrilov at dangavrilov@mail.ru.

Pictured: The young crew onboard Peter 1