Ella Hibbert: solo sailing above the Arctic Circle

Name: Ella Hibbert: solo sailing above the Arctic Circle
Uploaded: 2026-03-08T04:06:01.000Z
Duration: 42 min 2 s
Description: Ella Hibbert became the first British woman to sail solo through the Northwest Passage aboard her Moody 40 Yeva.

7 March 2026 · 42 min · 123 views · Dorchester

Sailboat at anchor off barren Arctic shoreline

What this video covers

Ella Hibbert, a British expedition sailor, completed the first half of a single-handed circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle in the summer prior to this recording, becoming the first British woman to sail alone through the Northwest Passage from England to Alaska.3:59 She plans to complete the second half via the Northeast Passage — all of northern Russia and northern Norway — returning to her start point at 66.34°N, 001°W between Norway and Iceland.0:02 Her boat, a Moody 40 named Yeva, was purchased through a crowdfund deposit and paid off monthly; two full shipyard refits over 18 months prepared her for the voyage.11:17 Early in the Northwest Passage leg, a wave flooded the boat and caused an electrical fire, forcing a stop at Grimsey, an island just north of Iceland.13:50 She ran aground in Arctic waters where paper charts carry depth soundings from the 1960s; a container ship grounded nearby days later on a charted 22-meter datum.23:03 She sailed in tandem with solo sailor Tamara for several days, and the two took a polar plunge at minus-one-degree water temperature within 100 meters of an iceberg.20:55 Scientific data collection, endorsed by the British Scientific Exploration Society and the International Seakeepers Society, formed a core part of the project, as did work with Polar Bears International.21:41 The Northwest Passage's mechanical problems and groundings, she argues, built the confidence needed to attempt the more remote Northeast Passage alone.32:58

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Boats in this video

Moody 40 (DIXON)Their boat