Ella is currently en-route – Check up on her progress – Ella is currently en-route – Check up on her progress
Hi! I’m Ella Hibbert.
I’m a 28 year-old British Yachtmaster sailing instructor based in Portsmouth, England.
ABOUT ME
This summer, I will be attempting to become the first person ever to circumnavigate the Arctic Circle alone, to raise awareness of climate change’s impact on the Arctic and fundraise for two amazing charities. Polar Bears International and Ocean Conservancy.
If successful, it will be a bittersweet moment for me. On the one hand, I will have achieved a record, but on the other hand, it is a journey that should not be possible, and it will prove that the Arctic, which is currently warming 2 to 3 times faster than the rest of the world, no longer has the ice covering that it once did.
I was born in Germany, growing up in a military family, though I was raised mainly in England and France. I can speak French pretty fluently!
I was passionate about sailing from a young age, starting out as a young girl on small dinghies in a reservoir near Ipswich and later sailing out with my family around the south of France and Corsica. Leaving home at 18, I briefly lived in Australia before working for four years as a divemaster on superyachts, which gave me the chance to sail and dive all over the world.
The joy and wonderment of seeing the beauty of our planet was incredible and inspiring, yet I was also witness to the devastating impact our species is having on the planet. Seeing first-hand the unimaginable scale of coral bleaching in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and the global degradation of our oceans really brought home for me the need to act for our planet and raise awareness of climate change.
Coming back to Britain, I dedicated myself fully to sailing and qualified as an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor at age 25.
My goal since has been undertaking this expedition in the Arctic, where sea ice decline continues at a growing pace. In 2022, I bought a 38ft steel-hull ketch called Yeva, which is built for long ocean voyages. I spent several years refitting the ship for the expedition, making major modifications thanks to the help of my amazing sponsors to make the ship ready for the grueling journey.
I chose to attempt Arctic circumnavigation because it is a voyage that should not be possible, but which has been rendered possible by the decline of sea ice in the Arctic, which is currently warming 2-3 times faster than the rest of the world. If I do manage to sail the whole way around the Arctic and back, proving the scale of the environmental catastrophe facing all of us, it will undoubtedly be a bittersweet achievement.
To prepare for the voyage, last summer I took Yeva out for trials across the North Sea to Southern Norway before continuing northwards towards Svalbard. Despite several issues, including having to climb the rig at sea alone, total steerage failure in the middle of the Barents Sea, strong winds, up to 5m high waves, and flooding of the yacht, Yeva and I made it to Svalbard in August 2024 –when the island saw its warmest temperature on record – before returning Portsmouth in Autumn.
As the launch date nears, I am working tirelessly to prepare myself physically and mentally for this journey.
Navigating such a perilous environment alone comes with unique challenges – not least being unable to sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time for much of the trip to avoid drifting and crashing! I am so grateful for all the support from my family, friends and sponsors who have given so much to make this expedition happen.
I will set sail towards the end of May from Portsmouth, and hope to be back in time for my birthday in October! Upon my return, I will be auctioning Yeva off with the proceedsgoing to charities which fight to protect the Arctic north.