Arksen » About Arksen

About Arksen

Arksen is an innovation, technology and adventure company designing the ultimate marine exploration vessels. We aim to create the world’s largest purpose-built private marine research fleet and to inspire a new generation of explorer, sailor, adventurer and scientist; motivating them to go further, for longer and in support of projects that empower global audiences to better understand, protect and nurture the world’s oceans.

Responsible

The ocean is the heart of the planet, lying at the core of earth’s stability. We find ourselves on the cusp of profound change, where the entire marine ecosystem is under threat, without a clear understanding of the potential impacts, largely because of a lack of research. The biggest single issue facing ocean science and discovery today is not a lack of willing people; it is a lack of funding and infrastructure to support it.

Arksen aims to solve this most pressing of problems; the availability of sea time on vessels that are suitable and allocated to research. Arksen is developing a synchronous data platform for the aggregation of environmental marine data. Working with Nekton and Boat International we are creating the world’s largest private marine research fleet to support an intensive 15-year science programme.

In support of these goals we established the Arksen Foundation, UK registered charity (No 1186488). Our cornerstone program 10% for the Ocean is a pledge taken by the Arksen community, individuals, families and companies, that is designed to address a global and systemic problem; that only 1% of all charitable funding goes to supporting ocean related causes. Our aim with this project is to create a scale funding network for ocean science and related causes – to shift the needle by increasing the oceans share of funding from 1% to 10%. Read more here.

Experiential

We live for the experiences that our machines enable, and adventure is the lifeblood of our company. As climbers, sailors, skiers, divers, surfers and kiteboarders getting off the beaten track is in our DNA. It is what life is all about. So to maximise these opportunities for our community, we set up the Arksen Explorers Club which offers both custom and curated expeditions, and the Arksen Explorers Rally; a collection of adventures that are designed to enable friends and families to explore the worlds wilder lands and oceans. To deliver these initiatives, the Arksen team have created an incredible itinerary of experiences and built an inimitable network of adventure professionals.

In the moment

Now is the time to get out there. Now is the time to change the way we travel the world. Now is the time to choose more sustainable and exceptional products that are designed with their full life cycle in mind. Now is the time to take that journey of a lifetime, why wait?

To open up more opportunities for people to embark on life-enhancing adventures and work with us to help change the world, we set up our shared ownership program. The Arksen Explorers Syndicate is designed to allow like-minded adventurers to club together to share costs. This helps ensure that another key part of our mission is achieved – that Arksen vessels do not sit in marinas for 90% of the time but get used to the full potential by our community.

Pioneering

By harnessing the latest hybrid propulsion technologies, coupled with state of the art control and monitoring systems, our vessels are at the forefront of a revolution within the marine industry and a new approach to offshore passage making. Our focus is on creating the bedrock for a new wave of sustainable marine adventure that has respect for our earth’s ecology at its core and our choice of materials, technologies and processes all start from this simple concept. Our design process has been developed to minimise environmental impact and optimise recyclability at the end of life.

In summary, we are trying a different approach – one that is rooted in sustainability and the joy of experiences rather than ownership alone. As we like to say, ownership of an Arksen is not a status symbol. It is a statement of intent. We hope that our vessels will have a profound positive impact on the lives of their owners.

In the words of Thor Heyerdahl “Borders? I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.”

Team

To achieve our vision, we have assembled an exceptional team from across the marine, aviation, and technology sectors and formed deep partnerships with world-class naval architects, technologists and shipyards.

Jasper Smith

Chairman

Jasper is a seasoned and successful entrepreneur, founder and chairman of a number of companies in the games, technology, finance and engineering sectors including; PlayStack, PlayJam, Arksen and Vala Capital. Jasper has spent a lifetime adventuring at sea and on land. He sailed from Sydney to Alaska, via Kamchatka in Russia and climbed all of the major volcanoes along the way.

Sophie Damman

Founder

Sophie is an accomplished designer who has a passion for the oceans and their conservation, starting Arksen to encourage a new wave of scientific philanthropy.

Ewan Hind

Chief Operating Officer

Ewan has 25 years of commercial experience gained across a range of marine industry sectors. He is a qualified chartered engineer, naval architect and large yacht captain, and with over 100,000 sea miles including circumnavigating under sail, has a wealth of operational knowledge.

Mike Jones

Commercial Director

Owner of a successful creative agency and with over 17 years experience in the marine industry, he has developed an expansive technical knowledge from working with a wide range of the latest sailing and motor vessels. Mike is a highly skilled offshore sailor and has competed on the international racing circuit.

Jim Mair

Technical Director

With a background in the design and production of commercial vessels, built to operate in harsh environments, Jim will oversee the technical development of Arksen vessels; from conception through to delivery and beyond.

Olly Hicks

Executive Director – Arksen Foundation

Drawn to the sea from a young age, the fascination with what lies beyond the horizon and a dream to row across the Atlantic from the age of 13 which he realized aged 23 – he now seeks to push the boundaries of ocean adventure & human endeavor even further.

Eleanor Briggs

Marketing Director

Eleanor is a highly experienced marketing professional with a background in the UK luxury marine sector. With a passion for the outdoors, Eleanor uses her Masters in Global Marketing to help connect adventurers with their dreams of crossing the globe by sea.

Kasper Hunt

Technology Director

Kasper has been a technologist for over 18 years working with Apple, Rolls Royce and a variety of major engineering companies. He has focused on machine learning and robotics, systems design and application architecture and development.

Nico Wills

Chief Explorer

Zoologist, soldier, photographer; Nico brings a wealth of eclectic knowledge and passion to the Arksen team. Heading up the Arksen Foundation and Explorer’s Club it is his role to forge exciting links to science, media and sporting organisations, as well as dreaming up the next big adventure for the Arksen family.

Partners

In developing Arksen we ensured that all the key partners were located in close proximity of each other and that they supported building in the UK. Our partners are some of the most accomplished and recognised brands in the industry.

Humphreys Yacht Design

A world-renowned, family-run naval architecture and yacht design business, with a heritage spanning over 40 years, combining the latest in design technology with an experienced team of designers. All the studio’s projects are the combination of efficient, easily driven and seaworthy sail and motoryachts, overlaid with the distinctive aesthetic and functional requirements of the owner.

Wight Shipyard Co.

One of Europe’s leading and busiest commercial and Superyacht ship builders, with an established reputation for providing vessels built to the highest possible standards. The Wight Shipyard Company team has a wealth of knowledge stemming from years of experience working on defence, commercial and luxury yacht projects.

Design Unlimited

An innovative yacht design studio with an established reputation for excellence in both interior design and exterior styling. The multi-award-winning team excels in new challenges, creating designs for everything from modern luxury motor yachts, large sailing superyachts and classic gentlemen’s yachts to racing yachts.

Waterline Media

A creative agency with a world class reputation for excellence, offering an insightful approach to branding and creative services. Their wealth of experience in the marine industry is second to none and they have grown to provide photographic, video, design and marketing services to a long list of household name brands in the marine, luxury, and Superyacht sectors.

Our Inspirations

Everyone needs role models and we are no exception. These intrepid explorers tirelessly worked to prove that their theories were correct, creating new technologies and methods along the way. For each of them the romance of adventure was very much alive, and we wish to follow in their footsteps.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water. He co-developed the Aqua-lung, pioneered marine conservation and was a member of the Académie française.

Fridtjof Nansen

Fridtjof Nansen was a great Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. In his youth he was a champion skier and ice skater. He led the team that made the first crossing of the Greenland interior in 1888, traversing the island on cross-country skis and led the famous Fram expedition to sail to the North Pole.

Bill Tilman

Bill Tilman was an English explorer, sailor, mountaineer and one of the finest travel writers of the last century. He is known for his many heroic climbing and sailing expeditions around the world and was an important pioneer of ecological adventure and exploration. He was one of those rare people who considered the journey itself as the adventure.

Thor Heyerdahl

Thor Heyerdahl was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany, and geography. He became famous for his incredible Kon-Tiki expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000 km across the Pacific Ocean in a hand-built raft from South America to the Tuamotu Islands.

Alfred Wallace

Alfred Russel Wallace was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. He discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection, was a leading expert on the geographical distribution of animal species and is sometimes called ‘The father of biogeography’. Alfred embarked on many adventures, collecting specimens, detailing languages, geography, and the flora and fauna along the way.