History
The origin
Since forever, between sea and mountain, snow and ice have drawn me in…
Sometimes, the coincidences of life take us very far.
One day, a book and a set of sails carried me to the Deep South — to the Antarctic Peninsula. Harsh, dazzling, fascinating.
I returned with the desire to create a vessel to share new adventures, and so we built Leatsa, a magnificent sailboat designed to lead us across Water, Earth and Ice, in search of every possible wonder.
February 2018: Leatsa leaves the Mediterranean, heading North, bound for Tromsø.
The rest of the story will be written with you…
Georges DUFFAU
Birth of a northern destiny
LEATSA had sailed around the world.
She had carried the travel dreams of her former owners, guiding them for years toward the distant places they longed to discover.
Then one day, she was left on a quay in Antibes, waiting for a new owner.
That’s where she met Georges, who told her about his dreams.
Fresh from two expeditions to Antarctica, he now longed to explore the Arctic.
He was searching for a sailboat Companion to take him there along with his friends, guests and clients.
She understood then that a new life awaited her.
The North, the cold, the snow, the ice…
A different world, one she needed to prepare for.
She accepted.
Before departure,
the transformation
She was fitted with a glass dome to shelter her guests a cocoon from which they could observe the Arctic environment, even in moments of wind, cold or deep fatigue, those moments that are often the most beautiful.
A heating system was installed. Until then, she had been asked to run air conditioning to withstand the sun; this time, she was expected to keep her passengers warm.
Many elements had to be reinforced: in the cold, one must be equipped and resilient.
Little by little, she understood that she would need more than a year of preparation.
With Georges and his team, it took nearly three years.
Three years to dress herself, equip herself, and ready herself for this new adventure.
And then one day…
Heading North
On 18 February 2018, Leatsa left Cannes for the Far North.
From Lisbon to Brest, then through Scotland via the Caledonian Canal, she sailed from passage to passage, stop to stop, encounter to encounter. With each stage, the North drew closer and with it, the feeling of a destiny unfolding.
Cécile, Georges’s daughter, joined the voyage in Dublin, adding an intimate dimension to this already initiatory journey.
Wind, rain, sun, mist the crew discovered the very essence of travel: moving forward, despite the unexpected.
After crossing the North Sea, Leatsa finally reached the Norwegian coast.
Bergen, Ålesund, then the fjords and the February snow opened the gates to the Arctic. Tromsø welcomed them under a blanket of white.
It was there that Georges met Vidar, a man of the North, hunter and fisherman, who taught them the wisdom of living with nature rather than ruling over it.
The journey was ending, but for Leatsa, it was truly the beginning of a new life one shaped by the North, by ice, and by light.
LEATSA felt alone.
She remained the only “Gazelle of the Arctic.”
If only she had had a little brother…
The icebound Brother-Ship
They found him in Brittany.
Not in a harbour, no.
At the back of a warehouse, hauled out for more than a year, dulled by boredom and with no horizon ahead, he was waiting for his moment.
Once again, Georges knew how to awaken a vessel. He spoke to him of exploration, and LINNE thought he was dreaming.
Georges promised him a new life: modernising his fittings, strengthening his wings, and restoring his confidence before his meeting with Leatsa, his experienced elder sister.
Together, they prepared for adventure, each with a role to play: Leatsa would set sail once more toward Tromsø, while Linne would stand ready for his first great departure.
His objective was clear: reach Nuuk, the capital of Greenland.
That name, distant and mysterious, became a promise.
The passage from Dunkirk to the Greenlandic ice would be tough, but Linne had no doubt.
A son of the META shipyard, forged for exploration, he already carried within him the strength, resilience and pride of northern vessels.
For eight years, Polar-Sails has been exploring Norway, Svalbard, Greenland…
So many emotions, stars in our eyes, and connections between the elements, the land, nature, animals and humans alike.
