Offshore: Canada Running 4th in The Ocean Race Europe
Aug 14, 2025
Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive was on the line for start of The Ocean Race Europe on Sunday, August 10, marking Canada’s first entry in the event.
Following a retirement from the recent Rolex Fastnet Race due to a hydraulic issue, the boat, named Emira IV, headed to Cherbourg, France, to undergo a successful round of repairs.
The Ocean Race Europe, in just its second edition, brings together some of the world’s top offshore sailors in seven IMOCA teams for a multi-leg sprint across Europe. For Canada Ocean Racing – Be Water Positive, it offers not only a high-level test of performance and resilience but also another step in building Scott Shawyer’s Canadian campaign capable of taking on the world’s most extreme solo race, the 2028 Vendée Globe.
“We have a very big goal ahead of us in 2028, and every race between now and then is part of that journey,” said president and skipper Scott Shawyer. “We’re proud to be flying the flag for Canada in this race, and promoting the Be Water Positive message, whilst building experience in one of the world’s most competitive fleets.”
The 2025 route covers approximately 4,500 nautical miles over five legs across Europe:
- Leg 1 – Starts 10 August: Kiel 🇩🇪 to Portsmouth 🇬🇧
- Leg 2 – Portsmouth to Cartagena 🇪🇸, with a fly-by in Matosinhos/Porto 🇵🇹
- Leg 3 – Cartagena to Nice 🇫🇷
- Leg 4 – Nice to Genoa 🇮🇹
- Leg 5 – Genoa to Boka Bay 🇲🇪, finishing with a coastal race finale on 20 September and prize giving on 21 September
As things went on Sunday, however, two of the competing boats collided two minutes after the start of the first leg from Kiel to Portsmouth and subsequently withdrew. That reduces the fleet to five and as of yesterday afternoon (Aug 13 )Scott was in fourth place roughly 50 nm behind the lead boat.
Supporting Scott are international offshore sailing veterans Pip Hare, Chris Pratt, Sébastien Marsset, and Brian Thompson, along with on-board reporters (OBRs) Georgia Schofield and Richard Mardens.
Talking to Scott
“Of course, I’m disappointed we had to retire from the Fastnet. It’s never easy to step back from a race, but ultimately it was the right decision. We had a technical issue with one of the boat’s key hydraulic control systems – the system that stabilises the mast, provides mainsail controls and adjusts the foils. It was frustrating to find this vulnerability during our first race onboard Emira IV, but it was also valuable. Better to find it now than later. We’ve already made the necessary repairs and are working on further improvements to strengthen the system.
“Despite the early retirement, I was really pleased with our boat-to-boat performance out on the water. With the fixes in place and the team working on upgrades and improvements, we have confidence heading into what’s going to be an incredibly intense six weeks of racing in The Ocean Race Europe. We’ll be up against many of the top IMOCA teams, and the whole crew is fired up and ready to push hard.”
The race continues.
