Berrimilla Berths In Britain
29th September 2008
D. Burfitt-Dons, GWA

Ten metre yacht Berrimilla finally made landfall in Falmouth, U.K. completing her semi circumference of the earth via the legendary North West passage starting in Sydney, Australia.

Alex Whitworth, ably assisted by team members Corrie McQueen and Kimbra Lindus had to cope with the long hot windless days and nights of the equatorial zone as well as the below zero waters off Alaska and Northern Canada. Their extraordinary adventure is told in dramatic detail on the ship’s blog where the various hardships encountered were met always with a stoic good humour. Their engine failed mid Atlantic after water ingestion caused by heavy following seas east of Greenland, so the final half of the crossing had to be made with the ancillaries’ dependant on the wind generator alone.

That such a relatively small unreinforced vessel could navigate through the passage demonstrates just how rapidly the world is warming, reducing our ice shelves and the albedo effect which helps to keep the planet at normal operating temperatures.


The Berrimilla crew have selflessly demonstrated to all the quickening momentum of climate change. Their deed has highlighting the urgency of concerted world action to address issues which will make the global credit crunch be seen as an inconsequential blip on the graph of human history.

In recognition of Berrimilla’s achievement the Global Warming Alliance presented the 2008 Service to the Planet Award to the leader, Alex Whitworth in Devon on 28th September 2008.



Well done all and thank you.

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