Segelverein Mare Incognita
Segelverein Mare Incognita is a Swiss expedition sailing club based in Zurich that maintains the Whitbread racing yacht SY Passage and offers expedition-style sailing trips. The 18-metre aluminium vessel is the club's central yacht for demanding mileage passages in the North Sea, Atlantic and Arctic waters such as Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard. Participants take an active role in seamanship and navigation; legs count as CCS-compliant training trips toward the high-seas certificate. A defining feature is the club philosophy that everyone on board is crew, with a focus on experience rather than profit, supported by a core skipper crew and winter storage in the Netherlands.
History
Segelverein Mare Incognita maintains the sailing yacht SY Passage, a Whitbread racer built in 1989 by Guy Ribadeau Dumas at Universal Yachting France for the Whitbread Round the World Race 1989/90. The yacht is 18 metres long and 5 metres wide and designed as a robust expedition and racing vessel; after a 2009 refit it remains in use for Arctic trips. Following training trips in the North Sea and London shuttles up the Thames, Passage sailed four times to Iceland and Greenland and twice to Spitsbergen. Six expeditions went into the high Arctic, twice beyond the 80th parallel. Passage has about 120,000 nautical miles under her keel and took part in events including Antigua Sailing Week, Blue Cup, Hong-Kong-Challenge, ACR and the Fastnet Race. Long-time skipper and friend Till Lincke died unexpectedly on 13 January 2022; the club honours his memory and continues the expedition philosophy. Active members handle boat maintenance, accounting, skipper organisation and bookings; trip participants automatically become club members for one calendar year. For 2027 a passage to West Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland is planned.
Information
Facilities
Expedition yacht SY Passage (18 m aluminium Whitbread racer) with 12 berths, diesel heating, watermaker, life rafts and survival suits; winter storage in the Netherlands; two double kayaks on board.
Activities
Expedition sailing trips in demanding waters, CCS-compliant mileage trips for high-seas training, manoeuvre training, Arctic voyages to Iceland, Greenland and Spitsbergen, general meeting and club social (spaghetti dinner).
Youth section
No classic youth section; focus on high-seas training for aspiring skippers and crew participation on expedition trips.