Press Kit · Media
An Antarctic circumnavigation maintained south of 60°S. Two sailors, a 47-foot aluminium yacht, a 20,000-mile loop with no ports of call.
Synopsis
In August 2026, a 47-foot sailing yacht leaves Marseille to close the most hostile loop in offshore sailing.
A complete circumnavigation of the Antarctic continent, held south of the 60th parallel from start to finish. No ports of call. No shelter. No assistance possible. The loop closes, or it does not.
The yacht is called ARION. The expedition, ODYSSEY OF AION. On board, two people: a doctor-navigator with twenty-five years of offshore experience and 120,000 nautical miles sailed, and Sarah, a marine biologist specialised in polar cetaceans.
They will navigate one of the few ocean areas where no rescue can arrive for several days, where depressions follow every 48 hours, and where tabular icebergs drift without radar signal.
This is more than a sailing voyage. ARION carries rigorous scientific observation protocols: cetaceans, bioacoustics, polar meteorology, oceanography. The data feed the AION Data Hub, a portal open to researchers and institutions.
A feature-length documentary film is being shot on board throughout the expedition. A 90-minute edited excerpt, "Patagonia, Between Sky and Sea", is already available for the press.
From Marseille, the route crosses the Atlantic, Patagonia and the Drake Passage to the Antarctic circumnavigation south of 60°S. 38,000 nautical miles in total, spread over 365 days at sea.
Beyond human latitudes, where the sea decides.
AION principleFor the newsroom
Closing a circumpolar loop while staying south of 60° South, with no port of call, no assistance, two-up, on a 47-foot aluminium yacht. An act of method and endurance, not of speed. The approach is documentary, not sport.
Three oceans, five sectors, an uninterrupted trajectory. Biological and oceanographic series that cover, for the first time, the full periphery of Antarctica from a single yacht, with the same observer. Cetaceans, bioacoustics, sea ice, polar weather. Data Hub open to researchers.
Two people. A medical doctor turned offshore navigator, and a marine biologist turned offshore sailor. One brings route and systems, the other science and protocols. Together, a complete pair, no shore team on board, no primary media sponsor.
Filmed entirely on board, in 4K, sound and edit done by the crew itself. Not a helicoptered camera team. A feature-length film in preparation, a 90-minute Patagonia excerpt already edited. Associate co-production possible before rights assignment.
No primary sponsor, no institutional umbrella. The expedition rests on a hybrid model: individual contributions via Ko-fi, targeted technical partnerships, film co-production. Transparent budget, contracted deliverables, editorial independence preserved.
The project connects to the line of Charcot, Amundsen, Shackleton: science before conquest, instrument before symbol. Not a decorative tribute, a field discipline. The /jb-charcot-eng page develops this filiation.
The crew
Medical doctor by training, offshore navigator with 25 years at sea and more than 120,000 nautical miles sailed. STCW Captain 500 GT certification.
A career split between medicine, transoceanic deliveries and command of expedition yachts in cold seas. A specialist of high southern latitudes, he handles the route, weather routing, critical systems and all engaging decisions at sea. Solo from Marseille to Ushuaia, then in crew for the Antarctic circumnavigation.
Marine biologist, specialised in polar cetaceans: killer whales ecotypes A to D, Antarctic baleen whales. PhD in marine biology.
Offshore sailor trained from childhood. She stands crew watches while running observation protocols in parallel: photo-identification, passive acoustics, standardised context notes, curation of series destined for the Data Hub. Joins ARION at Ushuaia for the Antarctic circumnavigation.
The yacht
ARION is not a performance yacht retrofitted for expedition. It is an expedition yacht built to remain repairable when everything wears. Aluminium, heavy, sober, designed so two tired hands can still intervene on every system.
Every critical system is redundant: energy, steering, heating, communications. South of 60°S, the nearest icebreaker is several days away. Repairs are made with what is on board.
The route
Geographic certainty: no land exists between 60°S and the Antarctic continent across 360° of longitude. A port of call is physically impossible for anyone maintaining 60°S. The loop closes or it does not; it is the narrative argument of the project, not an external risk.
Onboard science
Non-invasive observation protocols, run daily by Sarah.
Continuous measurements en route, not on fixed schedules.
High-frequency readings, useful to model validation.
Portal open to researchers and institutions.
Documentary
The film accompanies the full expedition. 4K footage, sound and edit made on board. Not a formatted adventure film: the real, the watches, the repairs, the decisions, the fatigue, the long hours of nothing, then the minutes when everything tips.
A 90-minute edited excerpt, shot during the Patagonian phase, is available for press screenings, events and editorial evaluation.
Associate co-production possible before rights assignment. Full film dossier and deck on request.
Watch the available excerpt →Press resources
The PDF dossier contains detailed presentation, biographies, extended ARION technical sheet, HD press-cleared photos, logos. For any specific request (interview, additional images, accreditation, Data Hub access), write directly.
captain@odysseyaion.com