Skippers Alasdair Flint and Tim Loftus recently received the prestigious Tilman medal from the Royal Cruising Club in recognition of their extreme 2011 Arctic expedition, in which they sailed to the Beerenberg volcano on Jan Mayen. Alasdair’s boat was kitted out with some essential Barton Marine equipment.

The stunning boat, ‘Sumara of Weymouth’ is a Laurent Giles Vertue class, designed in the 1930’s but built new in Weymouth in the 1990’s. In preparation for the arduous and potentially dangerous journey, Alasdair installed ‘Sumara’ with Barton blocks and T Tracks with sliders, specifically chosen for their reliability and longevity. Alasdair explained his choice of equipment: “When you take a small boat like Sumara into the unknown, you are very restricted on what spares and essentials you can carry. Myself and my crew have to be confident in the deck gear we fit, which is why we specified Barton Marine.”

The Beerenberg volcano on Jan Mayen is the World’s largest volcano. Located 250 miles east of Greenland and 300 miles north of Iceland, it is beyond the reach of all safety services. Alasdair and Tim left their small boats at anchor and exposed to the elements without protection to climb to the peak of the mighty Beerenberg. To watch videos of the pair sailing from the Faroes and ascending the volcano with their crew, click here