Canada Ocean Racing, founded by Scott Shawyer, is a Canadian Offshore Sailing Team competing in the IMOCA Globe Series including the infamous race, the Vendée Globe.
Our Mission
Scott Shawyer is attempting to become the first Canadian to complete one of the most difficult sporting challenges on the planet – the iconic solo, non-stop, unassisted, around the world yacht race, the 2028 Vendée Globe.
The Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive Sailing Team work to also inspire the next generation of offshore sailors by creating a strong foundation for the continued development of the sport in Canada through our Pathway Program.
Our Purpose
Canada Ocean Racing has built a world-class offshore sailing venture to manage Scott’s Vendée Globe campaign. The campaign is purpose driven with a focus on building awareness around water scarcity and in 2023 the project adopted the Be Water Positive Sailing Team identity and goals in association with the International Desalination and Reuse Association (IDRA) and our founding partner H2O Innovation.
We have partnered with Foxall-Munro who are leaders at the intersection of the sailing sector and sustainability. Together we aim to be the team that fosters a deeper understanding of the pressures on global watersheds as a result of local consumer choices, taking on the responsibility of leading by example and communicating methods to take meaningful action, both as individuals and as part of a larger system alongside our commercial partners.
The Opportunity
The platform of sport is unique in that it acts as a bridge between collective enjoyment and societal responsibility. It is a medium where we can harness our networks and explore the gap between challenges and solutions. Our unique position also creates reach, enabling us to amplify the voices of change-makers and facilitate meaningful connections between solution providers and those in need.
#CHOOSEYOURADVENTURE
Scott Shawyer
“Life is what you make of it and it can be an amazing adventure!
It wasn’t until I was in COVID lockdown working 12 hours a day that the coin dropped. I hadn’t been outside in days and I came across the start of the 2020 Vendée Globe. The skippers walked down the dock, got on their boats, threw off their masks, and set out to sail around the world. They were setting out not just to sail around the world, but to compete in a race that is arguably the toughest sporting challenge on the planet!
At that moment, I realized that I wanted that – the challenge, the passion, the excitement – something to have me excited to get out of bed in the morning, something to put an extra bounce in my step, something to really energize my soul.
We are all capable of achieving almost anything we set our minds to, and we can all choose our own adventure. This is mine, what is yours?”
Our Boat
Our boat has several identities; Canada Ocean Racing, Be Water Positive (our team purpose), and is registered in maritime archives as EMIRA 1. EMIRA 1 is an IMOCA 60 racing yacht.
The meaning of IMOCA comes from the French acronym “International Monohull Open Class Association”.
IMOCA Class yachts are high-performance sailboats designed for solo or team competitions on long-distance ocean races and round-the-world races. These sailboats are elite sailing billboards that also stand out for their advanced design, cutting-edge technology and capabilities to face extreme ocean conditions. They are the fastest and most technologically advanced ocean racing mono-hull yachts in the world.
