• Rennais Vincent Grison sets off this Saturday for an expedition to the North Pole.

  • To reach the Arctic, the adventurer will use a bicycle, a sailboat, a boat and a kite.

  • Throughout his journey, he will be in contact with students from around thirty classes in the metropolis in order to make them aware of the effects of global warming.

Like Thomas Pesquet a few hours before him, he also left on a mission. This Saturday morning at the stroke of 10 am, Vincent Grison will set off from the town hall square in Rennes to experience a great polar adventure. He will first get on his bike to reach Saint-Malo, dragging behind him a boat 5.5 meters long and one meter wide. At the beginning of next week, he will embark on a sailboat which will take him to Iceland. A 300-kilometer rowing trip will then await him to reach the icy waters of Greenland aboard his boat, called the

Breizh Ice

 that he made himself in the ponds of Apigné. “It is made of composite materials which makes it very light and resistant to repeated impacts against ice,” said this naval architect by training.

To advance in his journey, the 34-year-old sailor, who already has experience of solo races, can also count on a kite which will tow his boat if the wind allows it.

Once the pack ice was in sight, Vincent Grison planned to venture there but still attached to his boat "for safety reasons".

"I installed skates underneath to slide on the ice so it will serve as a sled", he emphasizes.

"A symptomatic place of global warming"

On the other hand, there is no question for him to take himself for Mike Horn, the South African adventurer who almost died of hunger and exhaustion during an expedition in the Arctic at the end of 2019. “I am not setting myself an extreme challenge, the aim of this mission is to meet educational needs ”, indicates the thirty-something, who works for Médecins sans frontières. During his three-month adventure, Vincent Grison will not be alone. Students from around thirty classes in the Rennes metropolitan area will constantly follow his course and discuss environmental protection with him by videoconference.

“The North Pole seemed to me the ideal place for that because there is a whole symbolism around with the ice floes and the polar bears, indicates the young man.

It is also a symptomatic place of global warming with effects that are very visible there ”.

Equipped with a camera and a microphone, the adventurer will shoot videos and record podcasts that will be broadcast on the expedition site and on social networks.

He will also lead a research project in connection with the University of Rennes 2 around radar satellite imagery, to better understand how the ice in the pack ice evolves.

If all goes well, his return to the Breton capital is scheduled for late July or early August.

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  • Global warming

  • Planet

  • Ice floe

  • Arctic

  • Boat