Jock Wishart

Jock Wishart is a maritime and polar adventurer, sportsman and explorer. Until his successful 2011 Old Pulteney Row To The Pole, he was best known for his circumnavigation of the globe in a powered vessel, setting a new world record in the Cable & Wireless Adventurer a and for organising and leading the Polar Race.

Latest Expedition

In 2010 he announced his latest expedition: his intention to take a rowing boat to the certified 1996 position of the Geomagnetic North Pole (The position is 78°35.7N 104°11.9W). At the time, Wishart described how it has only become possible to consider an attempt like this in recent years due to the increase in seasonal sea ice melt and the much-documented changes to the Arctic climate.

His expedition, The Old Pulteney Row To The Pole voyage, set out on July 28, 2011 from Resolute Bay, Nunavut, Canada, to travel 450 miles. At the, Wishart described the timing of the expedition as being crucial because the final section of the journey is only navigable for a few weeks of the year before refreezing. Daily Telegraph: Explorers begin attempt to row to North-Pole

Wishart said of his latest expedition: "It is hard to imagine that in the 21st century there are still parts of our oceans that have never been explored. This is truly a voyage into the unknown - within 60 nautical miles of the start of our voyage; we will be taking The Old Pulteney through waters that have may never been navigated by any surface vessel."

On August 25, 2011 at 1830 hours Wishart's boat reached this Pole position. He announced the success saying: "There is now a row boat at a the '96 Mag. North Pole"

He has written on the expedition's diary blog at www.rowtothepole.com

Early years

Jock Wishart was educated in Dumfries in south west Scotland at the academy there and at the University of Durham (Bede College).

Americas cup

Jock Wishart sailed as a grinder on Lionheart, the 1980 British challenger for the America's Cup.

North pole expeditions

Jock Wishart has twice trekked to the North Pole in record-setting expeditions.

Transatlantic row boating

In 1997 Wishart and team mate Duncan Nicoll placed 10th in a trans-Atlantic rowboat race from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

Record breaking circumnavigation of the globe in a powered vessel

Wishart and his crew on the Cable & Wireless Adventurer, left Gibraltar on 19 April 1998 on their 26,000-mile worldwide journey. The journey encompassed 15 ports in 10 countries, and the intention was to complete the journey inside 80 days. The team ultimately broke the powered world record, previously held by the nuclear submarine USS Triton, by completing the circumnavigation in 74 days, 20 hours and 58 minutes. This beat the previous record by more than seven days.

The U.S. Navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton completed the first submerged circumnavigation of the world in 60 days 21 minutes, between February 24 and April 25, 1960, covering 26,723 nautical miles (49,491 km; 30,752 mi) at the average speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) non-stop.

The Polar Race

Main article: Polar Race

In 1996, Wishart and David Hempleman-Adams organised The Ultimate Challenge, in which they chose 10 arctic novices from over 500 applicants and successfully led them to the Magnetic North Pole.

Following the success of this expedition, which proved that novices could be trained and equipped for a Polar expedition, the two men established The Polar Race. The first Polar Race was April 2003. Before April, it's too dark and after April there's open water. Since 2003, the race has been run every other year: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011. As of May 2007, three races have been run with 40 out of 41 competitors successfully reaching the Pole. In the ensuing two races, every competitor reached the North Pole.

Old Pulteney Row To The Pole

In 2011, Wishart led a crew on a voyage that rowed 500 miles on journey to the 1996 certified position of the Magnetic North Pole. The expedition team included Adventurers and mariners Mark Delstanche,Rob Sleep, Billy Gammon and Captain David Mans. The BBC filmed the expedition for a TV documentary and its filmmaker Mark Beaumont joined the crew. The boat was named The Old Pulteney after the projects sponsor's single malt whisky brand. The expedition rowed through open waters during the summer melting season, reaching the Pole position in Deer Bay on August 25. The boat was designed to enable the crew to be hauled over the ice where navigation on water was impossible. This was only required for the last 2 miles where ice had blown into Deer Bay during a period of high winds.