'The Inuit think we're mad': rowing to the magnetic north pole

Crew aim to go where no one's rowed before – but first can they make it around the Isle of Wight?
Row to the Pole boat
North Pole here we come . . . Photograph: Michael Hughes

'The Inuit think we're mad," laughs Jock Wishart. This summer, Wishart and five crew members will attempt to become the first people to row a boat to the magnetic North Pole. "There's been nothing like this since Sir Ernest Shackleton saved his men in 1916 by getting a lifeboat from Antarctica all the way to South Georgia," says Wishart, whose previous exploits include rowing across the Atlantic and setting the world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a powered boat.

But first the crew has to get round the Isle of Wight. So far their training attempts have had to be abandoned because it was too windy. "We wanted to row around the island," says Wishart. "But, in the end, the wind has not been in our favour. So we've rowed along the Solent from Calshot to Christchurch instead, which takes us about 10 hours."

Wishart and his crew have just a few weeks left to prepare before they set off from Resolute Bay in their £100,000 boat on their 450-mile journey. "When we hit the open sea, the only option if we get into trouble is to drag the boat on to any floating ice. The boat's hull is designed to be like a sledge. It is self-righting and we will all be wearing dry suits. But we won't have been able to train on ice beforehand. For the first few days a safety boat will come with us, but then we're on our own."

The expedition is only possible because of climate change, says Wishart: "The ice is shrinking. I don't really want to get into the issues about why this might be happening. I just want to highlight that it is."