The Arnold & Sons Trans Atlantic Arctic Expedition, which raised around £50,000 for the UK young persons' charity, The Prince's Trust, left Nova Scotia at the end of July, shortly after Bear Grylls and his Cat powered Ocean Dynamics RIB had appeared at seawork2003 in Southampton.

The 3,000 mile route saw landfall in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mary's Harbour in Labrador, Nanortalik in Greenland, Reykjavik in Iceland, the Faroe Islands and finally Scotland.

Expedition leader Bear Grylls explained what a long 15 days it had been, 'There were undoubtedly more moments of jeopardy out there than I had ever anticipated and, in truth, if I had any idea of how frightened all of us would be at stages, I would have thought twice before leaving.'

He had praise for the vessel's Caterpillar 3126B marine engine, which had been supplied by Finning (UK) ltd and set up to ensure the RIB could cover the longest stretch of the voyage without running out of fuel in remote waters. Another key expedition sponsor was Marine and Industrial Transmissions Ltd (MIT), which with Twin Disc provided a Twin Disc MG5075 marine gearbox and a Twin Disc TDJ130 water jet.

Finning and MIT worked closely with the crew during trials to fine tune the trim of the vessel under a wide variety of fuel load conditions.

The Arnold Explorer is a standard Ocean Dynamics Ribworker 35 hull modified to carry up to 3,750 litres of fuel, extending the range to a theoretical 1,000 miles dependent upon sea states. The deep 'V' design of the hull and sponson arrangement saw the Ribworker cope comfortably with sea states well beyond normal expectations for a boat of its size and type.

The Cat engine driving through the Twin Disc Jet could push the vessel to 35 knots at reduced fuel and water levels and in calm sea conditions. However, on the longest leg of the voyage from Greenland to Reykjavik, spanning a distance of over 850 nautical miles, the vessel was loaded with additional fuel and water and the average speed dropped to 12 knots in sea conditions that included running into a Force 8 gale.

In such harrowing conditions, the contribution of another expedition sponsor, Simrad UK, was fully appreciated.

Simrad supplied navigation and communication equipment for the crossing, including radar/chart plotter/GPS with a 4 kW dome, VHF radio with a built in Class D DSC controller, VHF DSC system with built in distress call, depth and compass systems, and six HT50 hand held VHF radios. As with the contributions of the other sponsors, the Simrad equipment performed faultlessly, and it was this comprehensive excellence from all involved that brought the team home safely.

MJ Information No: 18600