Managing Director and Expedition Leader for Special Projects
SKIP NOVAK
Skip Novak was born in 1952. He is best known for his participation in four
Whitbread Round the World Yacht Races since 1977. In that year at the age of
25 he navigated the British Cutter Kings Legend to 2nd place.
Skippering the Independent Endeavour in 1979, he won the Parmelia Race from
Plymouth to Freemantle Australia.
He skippered Simon Le Bon's Drum in the 1985/86 Whitbread Race coming 3rd.
He wrote a book entitled "One Watch at a Time" about this experience and it
was published simultaneously in England (David and Charles) and in America
(W. W. Norton).
In 1989 he was project manager and skipper of the Fazisi, the first Soviet
entry in the Whitbread Race, and he chronicled this watershed event in his
book "Fazisi - The Joint Venture" which was shortlisted for the William Hill
Sports Book of the Year Award in Britain.
Wishing to combine his mountaineering skills (New Zealand and the Alps,
expeditions to East Africa, Sikkim, Nepal, Patagonia, South Georgia and
Antarctica) with sailing he built the expedition yacht Pelagic in
Southampton in 1987 and has since spent every season since in Antarctic
waters, many of which were leading combined climbing and filming projects
based from his two vessels.
He is frequently asked to comment on high latitude adventuring and ocean
sailing by radio, TV and print media and is a regular contributor to many
sailing magazines worldwide, including several stints as a columnist for the
Daily Telegraph in London. He currently has a monthly column for Yachting World magazine.
Briefly returning to grand prix ocean racing on large multi-hulls, in 1997
he navigated the French catamaran Explorer to a sailing record in the
Transpac Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. In 1998 he co-skippered Explorer
with Bruno Peyron breaking the sailing record from Yokohama to San
Francisco. In January to March 2001 he co-skippered the 33 meter French
catamaran Innovation Explorer to a second place in the millennium non-stop,
no limits circumnavigation The Race.
In 2002/2003 Skip project managed the construction of his new Pelagic
Australis, a 23 meter purpose built expedition vessel for high latitude
sailing in order to augment the charter operations of the original Pelagic.
Launched in September of 2003, for 20 years she was flag ship for Pelagic Expeditions, before being taken over by Greenpeace. In 2021 Vinson of Antarctica the current flag ship of Pelagic Expeditions was launched. A concept and design collaboration by Tony Castro and Skip. A second vessel of this class is currently in build and will join the fleet in 2024.
In March 2015 Skip was awarded the prestigious Blue Water Medal from the Cruising Club of America for his life time of voyaging to high latitudes and, in January of 2016, the Royal Cruising Club in the UK awarded Skip the prestigious Tilman Medal (Bill Tilman, famous mountaineer and exploratory yachtsman) for his lifetime of leading sailing to climb expeditions in high latitudes.
Skip sits on the Panel of Experts that vets expeditions to South Georgia on behalf of the South Georgia government. He also served on the Executive Committee of IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) from 2012 to 2017.
SKIPPER'S C.V.s
ALEC AND GISELLE HAZELL
Alec Hazell, born in 1979, grew up in Falmouth England sailing on a variety of local boats and diving the many wrecks in the area. Alec has travelled extensively through southern Africa where he qualified as a pilot for light aircraft. Returning to the UK he trained and worked as a commercial diver for a number of marine engineering and salvage companies. Returning to Mozambique in 2001 he ran a game fishing and diving camp for two years.
In 2003 he took his RYA Yachtmaster Offshore course in Durban where he met his wife to be Giselle, a South African sailor and dive master. That same year he sailed as first mate on the new Pelagic Australis on her delivery from Cape Town to the Falklands for her first southern season. In the northern spring of 2004 he helped deliver Pelagic Australis to the UK and then was the first mate on Pelagic Australis first northern summer in Norway and Spitsbergen. On it continued through 2009.
In 2014, after a five year hiatus farming in the Eastern Cape they have returned to the sea refitting a Van Der Stadt 35 footer for themselves and freelancing for Pelagic Expeditions on refits and special projects. In 2015 they completed a five month extensive refit on Pelagic in Cape Town.
Alec and Giselle jumped back onboard Pelagic for the 2016/17 southern season supporting the first complete Penguin survey of Elephant Island in 2017. They joined the Hans Hansen for a spell undertaking more penguin survey work in the Danger Islands and filming in Margeurite Bay on the Peninsula. They moved back onto Pelagic Australis until 2018 when they decided to drop anchor in the Falkland Islands, settling there full time.
They now run a Falklands company, Holdfast Marine Services Ltd, providing pilotage and guiding and often join the Vinson of Antarctica in the summer as Skipper and wildlife guide. They reside in the Falklands ‘in camp’ year-round, running beef and in the winter have a native habitats restoration project which is aimed at restoring the coastal tussac habitat and soils of their island in the far west.
DION PONCET
Dion was born aboard the yacht “Damien II” in 1979 on the island of South Georgia, the result of his parents’ overwintering aboard in Antarctica the previous year. “Damien II” went on to become the precursor of Antarctic yacht charter in the eighties and was the inspiration for the design of the original “Pelagic”. As a child, Dion and his brothers were often aboard during this pioneering era of sailing to both South Georgia and the Antarctic peninsula.
He grew up in the southern ocean learning to drive Zodiacs and exploring it’s coastlines. During this time the family became residents of the Falkland Islands and settled on a remote island sheep farm in the archipelago.
After finishing secondary education and obtaining commercial RYA certification, Dion returned to the family business. He spent the following 12 years crewing and skippering professionally on his father’s next vessel “Golden Fleece” as well as occasional stints working for Skip aboard “Pelagic” and “Pelagic Australis”. Many of the voyages were in support of scientific bird surveys and wildlife filming projects. In addition to being a skipper and expedition leader, Dion is also a certified Divemaster and has served as diving assistant and dive supervisor on numerous underwater filming projects. In the Falklands he has participated in many baseline scientific diving surveys as well as working for the local commercial diving company.
In 2011 Dion and his father brought an 80 foot expedition motor vessel to the Falklands and began operating the first small non-sailing charter vessel in the area. For the next seven years Dion and his partner Juliette were kept busy running the “Hans Hansson” in support of more filming and scientific voyages, as well as the increasingly popular demand for tourism. Since 1999, he has visited South Georgia or Antarctica every season, often on multiple voyages.
Today the Poncet family no longer operates any vessels commercially. When not at home on the sheep farm or cruising privately with his family, Dion still goes south on occasion with Pelagic Expeditions, more recently working aboard the “Vinson of Antarctica”.
CHRIS KOBUSCH AND SOPHIE O'NIELL
Chris Kobusch, born in 1984 in Herford Germany, has been sailing world-wide on a range of different yachts. Before starting to work for Pelagic Expeditions in 2019 he was involved in the race training for the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race and skippered the Chinese entry Qingdao into 3rd place in 2017/18.
Since 2019 he has been working for Pelagic Expeditions, skippering all three of their yachts, both in Arctic and Antarctic waters, including support expedittions to Marion Island in the South Indian Ocean and Gough Island in the South Atlantic.
No stranger to all things outdoors, in addition to his sailing experience Chris enjoys hiking, running, and cycling, and in 2016 completed an epic 5600km, four month ride through Australia and New Zealand. His love for the sea extends beyond being on it but also in it as a professional Divemaster.
Sophie O’Neill is a RYA Yachtmaster Instructor with her teaching and coaching experience ranging from RYA dinghy sailing to RYA Day Skipper & Coastal Skipper courses, as well as preparing students for their Yachtmaster Offshore exams. Sophie also trained the crews for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. Besides formal RYA training Sophie spent many years skippering and coaching amateur race teams in some of the most prestigious races in the world (RORC600’s and Rolex Fastnet Races). In 2019 she joined Chris for a two year commitment on Pelagic Australis.
JUSTINO GARCIA BORREGUERO
Born in Bilbao Spain in 1977 , he comes from a family with relatives in the Merchant Civil Navy. Since childhood, he spent most of his free time at Plencia, a coastal town near Bilbao.
Before becoming a professional sailor, he went to the University where he got a degree in marketing and business. After a few years of working in different marketing jobs, he realized that being in an office was not his way, so he decided to quit everything and went to the Isle of Wight to get his RYA Yacht Master and start his sailing career.
Since then he has been involved in different projects as Oceana’s Research Boat, IMOCA Pakea Bizkaia Vendée Globe and IMOCA C.L.A.S Barcelona World Race shore team, Americas Cup crew-member for tourist tours in México, racing Big Boat Series in San Francisco, Skipper on private sailboats in Europe and America.
Since March 2022, he is part of the Vinson sailing crew as first mate or skipper. In 2022, in Cape Town, he was the boat captain on Vinson’s 1st refit. He holds a RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate.
When he is not on Vinson, his home base is Baja California (México), where he enjoys road cycling, functional training, and water sports such as surfing, wing foil and diving.
PAUL GUTHRIE
Paul was born in France in 1985 and grew up sailing around the Indian Ocean where his parents led marine archeology expeditions and other commercial diving projects. His upbringing left a strong impression, leading him to start a sailing career in 2009.
During his formative years working on classic schooners he developed a set of traditional seamanship skills and a passion for remote sailing. Still a keen classic boat sailor, he partakes in the regatta circuits around Europe and the Caribbean when the opportunity arises.
Throughout his career Paul has cruised extensively around the Mediterranean, Caribbean, South East Asia and has completed several high latitude trips including a North West Passage transit in 2018.
In January 2023 Paul joined Vinson of Antarctic to help prepare and take part in a Beagle Channel cruise and the subsequent passage back to Cape Town. He returned as skipper in 2024 to cruise the Beagle Channel once more, before sailing Vinson on a round trip across the South Atlantic, stopping in Tristan da Cunha on the way to Cape Town. Most recently he sailed Vinson down to South Georgia for the 2024/25 season opening trip, supporting a group of mountaineers.
TOR BOVIM
Tor Bovim was born in 1998 and raised south of Cape Town near the Cape of Good Hope. Sailing,and all things marine dominated life from the get go. His father built an Optimist to keep Tor
entertained while he built the 30 ft steel yacht they run as a small scale charter business from
Simonstown. This early involvement with boat construction and xposure to cruising sailors sparked the imagination.
When finally released from school, Tor found himself sailing boats of all kinds in Cape Town and around South Africa’s coast. Making friends with local sailing instructors, Tor found himself moving through the RYA Certification process, completing the Yachtmaster Ocean (with commercial endorsement) in 2022.
While employed by Southern Wind Shipyard, he met Skip on the dock in Cape Town in 2020. This fortuitous occasion saw him working as crew on Pelagic Australis for the voyages to Gough Island
and Marion Island. He used this experience to sail twice more to Gough Island. Joining Pelagic in
2022 for a full summer of sailing to Greenland and Baffin Island. This momentum has continued,
sailing Vinson of Antarctica for the expedition to the South Sandwich Islands in 2023 before
returning north to skipper Pelagic on her most recent Arctic cruise. Looking ahead, he will be
working as mate on Vinson before returning to Pelagic once more in 2024.
JAKOB CAMPFORTS
Jakob Campforts was born in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. He has a lifelong experience sailing, starting in dinghies as a kid, up to various sizes of yachts. Sailing solo around Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean. He loves sailing and climbing. Jakob started a career as a climbing arborist before working as a charter skipper in the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
Addicted to adventure, he got his first experience sailing in high latitudes crossing solo the Southern Ocean on his 30ft steel boat to Cape Town. After reaching Patagonia and Cape Horn, he sailed to Antarctica in his late 20’s. He fell instantly in love with sailing through ice in polar regions. Since then, he’s been sailing and skippering different charter sailboats ranging from 60-100ft in Antarctica and arctic waters as far as 80° N. Besides this he still sails his 30ft sailboat ‘Hermano’ on personal expeditions to the far ends of the world.
Jakob is a commercial RYA/MCA Ocean Yacht Master and is a RYA sail instructor. He came first in contact with Vinson of Antarctica while sailing in Antarctica and joined them on a trip around the Falkland Islands in 2022. He is currently skipper on Amundsen, the sistership launched in 2024.
DAVID ROBERTS
Born in South Devon in 1986, David is from a sailing background and has sailed as long as he can remember. Starting with racing dinghies and then occasionally on racing keelboats Dave decided to take a gap year from university to do yacht deliveries which led to a career in offshore sailing.
Since 2010 David has been working in the South, first as a crew for two seasons on Pelagic Australis, then three seasons as skipper on the original Pelagic including projects for the BBC, supporting a kayak circumnavigation around South Georgia and the Yachting World Cape Horn project for Skip Novak’s Heavy Weather Storm Sailing series of videos. This led to two seasons skippering Pelagic Australis in a wide range of activities in the Antarctic and on South Georgia.
Since 2019 Dave has been working on a freelance basis on various expedition vessels – sharing his knowledge and assisting new crews in Antarctica, yacht deliveries while working on many film projects for Netflix, Apple TV, the BBC and Nat Geo Disney.
MAGNUS DAY
UK born in 1975, Magnus has been a lifelong sailor of dinghies and yachts of all sizes. He has been working in the southern regions since 2005, first as crew followed by multiple seasons as captain of Pelagic and Pelagic Australis.
Since then, with well over 200,000 sea miles between 82N and 68S he’s held captain, ice pilot and expedition lead roles for boats measuring 14-70m, including some of the world’s best known sailing superyachts.
Magnus’ sailing adventures have taken him, in each of the last 20 years to Patagonia, the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and the Arctic from Alaska, through the Northwest Passage to Baffin Island, Greenland, Svalbard and Norway.
He also runs High Latitudes, a subsidiary of EYOS Expeditions specializing in bespoke yacht design, build and refit consultancy, project management and crewing solutions for small and mid-size vessel owners seeking to explore the icy wastes at either end of the globe. He was involved with handover and crew training aboard SY Witness, the former Pelagic Australis taken over by Greenpeace International in 2021.
Magnus recently managed the conversion of custom expedition yacht ArcticEarth to MCA Category 0 commercial code, which he and his wife, Julia, operated for two extensive seasons on Greenland’s west coast and in Arctic Canada. Outside the polar world Magnus provides design and build consultancy to private clients and lives a life at sea with his wife on their own boat, Baltazar.
He sits on the Advisory Board for the Ocean Genome Atlas Project, a non-profit seeking to identify and genetically sequence marine life using custom sailboats with built-in science labs around the globe.