Espen Bertelsen
Chief executive
About us
Our crew
Boreal Yachting boats are crewed year-round by the company's own skippers and guides, sailing Northern Norway and Svalbard since 2003, not by contracted delivery crew. Skippers hold commercial certificates of competency for the vessels and waters they sail, with sea survival and first aid training. Mountain guiding on ski products is led by certified guides.
The people who sail with you
Names and roles are published from the company contact list. Individual biographies, photographs, sailing history, and qualifications will be added after verification.
Ivar Bertelsen
Owner
Jens Skår Krystad
Skipper and operations
Vetle Ingerøyen
Technical coordinator and skipper
Brewal Nael
Skipper and operations
Knut Granås
Base manager, Harstad
Mariana Tornedal
Sales and customer care manager
- Sailing these waters
- Shore team, Tromsø
- Sails mostly
- Shore-based, Tromsø
Mariana is usually the first person a guest or agency speaks to, and she stays with the booking from the first enquiry through to the week itself.
How crew are selected and trained
We hire for judgement first. Certification is the entry requirement, not the qualification. What decides whether someone skippers a Boreal boat is how they behave when the forecast turns, how they speak to guests when a plan changes, and whether the rest of the crew trusts them.
Every skipper sails as crew on our boats before taking command of one, so they know the vessel, the anchorages and the way we run a week. Svalbard skippers sail the archipelago with an experienced skipper before leading a voyage there, because the ice, the distances and the regulations are different.
Sea survival, first aid and safety drills are refreshed on a set schedule. Wildlife conduct, site-specific guidance and community rules follow AECO guidelines, and are briefed before each Arctic season.
Most of our crew return year after year. That continuity is the point: it is how local knowledge accumulates, and it is why guests who come back often sail with the same skipper again.
Start planning your Arctic journey.
Tell us what you have in mind. We will come back to you within two working days with a considered answer — not a template.