Breaking the ICE
IF you’re going to venture to the iciest ends of the earth by yacht you need a chunky steel boat, right? A floating tank sounds about right for navigating icebergs. Well, not according to professional explorer Mike Horn, who chose a nimble 35-metre aluminium sailing yacht to be his constant companion on more than a decade of global adventures. “Aluminium is not as resistant as steel,” he says, “but when I have a massive impact my boat just changes shape - aluminium bends, while steel tears.”
There’s very little that’s conventional about the yacht or about Horn himself. Bom in 1966 in Johannesburg, he grew up an outdoorsy, competitive child and went on to study human movement science at Stellenbosch University. He joined the army and served in Angola. Returning from service aged 24, he felt a need to get out and explore away from a politically isolated South Africa. He
