A team from Canada Ocean Racing is the latest to join The Ocean Race Europe lineup
by The Ocean Race 12 Dec 2024 17:12 GMT
The Be Water Positive Sailing Team is led by skipper Scott Shawyer © James Tomlinson / Canada Ocean Racing
The Be Water Positive Sailing Team will be on the start line in August 2025. The new team, led by skipper Scott Shawyer, will compete in the fully-crewed race, connecting European cities from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic, in August/September 2025.
The Be Water Positive Sailing Team is a new squad on the IMOCA scene, led by Shawyer, a businessman turned sailor, who is determined to grow offshore sailing in his native Canada.
"I've always been an avid sailor. I grew up sailing dinghies on Georgian Bay in Canada," Shawyer explains. "Fast forward through to Covid and I was in lockdown - couldn't leave the house - and I saw the Vendée Globe sailors walking down the dock, jumping on their boats and racing around the world. It was such a sense of freedom... I thought I'm doing something wrong here being strapped to a desk!!"
Fast forward a few years and Shawyer has a plan and a team in place to race around the world.
"This campaign has a several goals," says Shawyer. "Firstly, from a sporting perspective, we want to be the first Canadian team to compete in The Ocean Race, and the first Canadian to finish the Vendée Globe.
"We also want to bring the country along with us on this journey. Offshore racing hasn't had a high profile in Canada. But as a sport, it has a lot of the values that appeal to Canadians - resilience, teamwork, technology, and respect for the envrionment. So we want to build a positive legacy for the sport of offshore sailing in Canada."
The team has deep ties to ocean conservation through the Be Water Positive movement.
"We have a strong sustainability initiative within our campaign. Be Water Positive is a call to action for everyone to be more aware of the impact they're having on the water footprint. It's important to talk about these issues and raise awareness at a global level," Shawyer notes.
As a sailor, Scott Shawyer comes to the sport with a unique background for an IMOCA sailor.
An amateur sailor since childhood, Shawyer built a successful professional career in business, to the point where he can now devote time to his sailing passion.
"I don't have the years of experience moving through the Mini class, or the Figaro circuit, that you see in many of the women and men racing IMOCAs," Shawyer says. "I do have an incredible amount of respect for the time and dedication it takes to get to a point where you can race these boats with confidence. The talent in the IMOCA class is incredible and can be both intimidating and at times humbling.
"But I'm now in a position where I can spend time learning and practicing my craft and taking this journey to a point where I have built a competitive team around me to support getting us racing in The Ocean Race events as well as the next Vendée Globe.
"That's my goal and I'm thankful to have a good group of people with me who can help me learn. It's a big journey ahead, lots of training, lots sailing and a lot of racing. The next step is to be on the start line for The Ocean Race Europe this coming summer."
The Ocean Race Europe will start from Kiel, Germany on 10 August, with stops in Portsmouth, UK; Cartagena, Spain and Genova, Italy, before the Finale in Boka Bay, Montenegro.
The race theme is Connecting Europe and the event will support the EU Mission in engaging citizens and local communities to protect and restore the health of the ocean.
In addition to the Canada Ocean Racing - Be Water Positive Sailing Team, seven additional teams have registered their entries, including: Team Malizia (GER) - Boris Herrmann; Team Holcim PRB (SUI) - Rosalin Kuiper; Team Paprec Arkéa (FRA) - Yoann Richomme; and VULNERABLE - TR Racing (FRA) - Thomas Ruyant, while three of the registered teams are waiting to publicly confirm their participation.