Expedição Oriente and Neil Pryde Sails
In August 2014, the Schurmann family launched their new 80 ft sailboat ‘KAT” and departed on a new around-the-world expedition. This is their third world adventure on the high seas as a family.
The Orient Expedition (www.exepicaooriente.com.br ) will follow the Chinese route, who according to a controversial theory, where the first to go around the world in 1421. The new expedition has on board a plethora of innovation, technology and a strong focus on the environment.
Since August they have traveled south past Argentina and further south to Patagonia and are writing and posting photos (they took a drone along to take photos) as they go. They sailed into bays where Captain James Cook once sailed, and to the lighthouse at the end of the world, made famous by Jules Verne. They have hiked in Patagonia, and sailed around icebergs.
And now they are in the frozen wonderland of Antarctica.
Neil Pryde Sails became involved in the project in early 2013 as Wilhelm Schurmann who was a sponsored Neil Pryde world class windsurfer started to envision this exciting new adventure. He understood the importance of working with a group dedicated to making his dream come to life, and to this end we worked closely with Wilhelm exploring fabric selection and constructions as well as designing custom fittings for the sails.
The sails themselves, given the rugged conditions found in the lower latitudes, first and foremost had to be rugged, designed for the harshest conditions known to sailors and then set well and work for many, many nautical miles as they set sail from then end of the world onto China.
This is not our first Antarctic adventure, we have previously built sails for other Antarctica cruisers one of which replaced his sails after 85,000 nautical miles in the Southern Ocean! Remarkable considering the environment in which they sail.
Also see Updates from Expedião Oriente.
Behind the Wilhelm, the fresh herb garden (in the sphere), gets some sunshine.Follow their adventures on their Facebook page and Instagram.