Solo Sailor Attempts Unprecedented Arctic Circumnavigation to Fund Climate Research

Veteran sailor Matt Rutherford is trying to become the first person to sail alone around the Arctic Ocean, a 10,000-nautical-mile trek that also serves as a fundraiser for his climate-science nonprofit.

Matt Rutherford, a 45-year-old sailor from Annapolis, Maryland, embarked on a solo 10,000-nautical-mile journey to circle the Arctic Ocean, a feat no one has completed alone. Beginning on June 25 from Greenland’s west coast, his route crosses the North Atlantic, follows Russia’s Arctic shore, and will eventually thread through Canada’s Northwest Passage. Equipped with radar, thermal binoculars and a life raft, he must steer clear of ice that could crush his 42-foot vessel, especially as daylight wanes in the Barents Sea.

Russian authorities have issued a permit for his passage along the Northern Sea Route, demanding daily position reports and possible alerts to the FSB if he nears shore. The sail is also a fundraising cruise for his Ocean Research Project, which lost federal climate-science funding and needs a new engine for its research schooner. While Arctic sea ice has shrunk by roughly a third since the early 1980s, dense ice near Alaska and eastern Siberia could still jeopardize the mission, and loss of Starlink service in Russian waters may leave him without communications for weeks.