Research platform
Cap II as a research platform, from Tromsø
A 77 ft aluminium sailing yacht for research groups working in Svalbard, the Barents Sea and Northern Norway. Quiet under sail, small enough for fjord work, and a platform for coastal and ice-edge science.
Season 2027–28. Dates are provisional.
- Length
- 77 ft / 23.5 m
- Hull
- Aluminium
- Science party
- Small science party
- Base
- Tromsø
Behind: Svalbard in spring daylight. Stock photo.
Suited to
What she does well.
- Water column and surface sampling: eDNA, microplastics, plankton, nutrients
- Marine mammal observation and passive acoustics: a sailing hull is quiet under way
- Glacier-front and coastal photogrammetry, time-series imaging
- Seabird and shore-colony survey work from a stable inshore platform, at the legal distances
- Drone (UAV) operations from the deck, where permitted, under the science party's own permits
- Landing, supplying and recovering small shore parties and field camps, where permitted, under the science party's own permits
- Deployment and recovery of light instruments, drifters and shallow moorings
- Fjord and nearshore work in water too tight for larger research vessels
Not suited to
What she can't do.
- Work inside pack ice: by policy, where the ice chart allows, we sail to the ice edge, never into the pack.
- Deep-ocean coring, dredging or any heavy over-the-side work: no A-frame, no heavy winch
- Large science parties: the practical limit is a small team, not a full cruise complement
- Long unsupported endurance at high latitude comparable to a dedicated research vessel
We don't work inside the pack or carry heavy deck gear. If your programme needs either, we'll tell you at once and, where we can, point you to someone who offers it.
Specification
The numbers.
Tankage, instrument power, cold storage, communications and deck layout are confirmed for each programme, so your proposal quotes exact figures.
- Type
- Aluminium sailing yacht, built by CNB
- Length overall
- 23.5 m / 77 ft
- Beam
- 6.0 m / 19.7 ft
- Cabins
- 6
- Science party
- Small science party
- Ice protection
- Double hull, ice-plated bow and protected propeller
- Home port
- Tromsø
- Draft · displacement
- 2.65 m · about 50 t (tankage on request)
- Instrument power / cold storage
- On request, for your programme
- Comms and navigation fit
- 2 × Starlink, Garmin satellite communicator, Furuno MF/HF SSB, Icom VHF with DSC; B&G navigation, Simrad autopilot; 3 EPIRBs
Where and when
Operating area and season.
- June–July 2027 · provisional
- Svalbard and the Barents Sea: coastal and fjord work under the midnight sun
- November 2027–March 2028 · provisional
- Northern Norway from Tromsø: dark-season and winter work
- Charter basis
- Whole vessel, crewed. Multi-week programmes preferred
All dates provisional: ice and weather decide.
Before you apply
We can support your proposal.
Field budgets are written twelve to twenty-four months before anyone sails. If your programme is at proposal stage, talk to us now: it costs you nothing, and it puts a named vessel in your plan. Everything we write for you is provisional, subject to permits.
Letters of support
A signed letter of intent and provisional vessel availability for your funding application, naming your dates and work programme.
Formal quotations
A costed quote for your proposal budget line, valid for your submission window.
Logistics input
Honest advice on what your work plan will actually cost in sea days, and whether the passage plan is realistic for the season.
Get in touch
Tell us what you need to measure.
Send your work programme, preferred dates and the number of people in your science party. We reply personally with what is realistic, a provisional costed quote and, if you need one for a proposal, a letter of support.