Ben and Sarah are thrilled to have been selected by Sail Canada to represent Canada at the inaugural Double Handed Offshore World Championships in Lorient, France at the end of September. The mixed DH offshore class was originally proposed for the 2024 Olympics and is quickly gaining popularity in the offshore sailing world. This event will be the first annual event of its kind hosted by World Sailing and consist of an elimination series of overnight races followed by a final 48 hour race. Attending this event in 2024 will help the keen young sailors gain experience in double-handed racing by competing against other top offshore athletes from 14 nations. Sarah and Ben hope to encourage other Canadian sailors to pursue offshore sailing and encourage gender equality in the sport through the mixed gender event.
Ben and Sarah are a new double-handed team, but have thousands of offshore miles between them. They will leverage their different experiences and training before the event to jump into the competition with their best foot forward. Benjamin Daniel is a 27 year old sailor from Nanaimo, British Columbia. Ben completed his first race to Hawaii at 15 years old in the Vic-Maui International Yacht Race, and has since gone on to complete both TransPac and the Pacific Cup. Additionally, Ben has completed multiple Carribean 600’s, represented the Canadian Team at the SSL Gold Cup and has been racing in the Caribbean regatta circuit for the last two seasons. Sarah Nicholson is a 25 year old New Brunswick sailor with a passion for offshore racing. Alongside her current engineering role at North Technology Group, she is actively pursuing her offshore sailing dreams. Sarah’s most recent experience lies with a Halifax-based J/133, as she led its 2023 race campaign, participating in offshore events such as the RORC Caribbean 600, Antigua to Bermuda, Marblehead to Halifax. This year, she was able to skipper the Newport to Bermuda Race, and is looking forward to gaining more double-handed miles ahead of the World Championships through the 600nm Drheam Cup Race in France and Eurosaf Female Offshore European Championships.
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our donors. Your donation is helping support not just our campaign, but also promoting Canadian double handed sailing, offshore sailing, and increasing gender equity across the sport.
Thank you!
Check out the event NOR here: https://www.lorientgrandlarge.org/mediacenter/uploads/2024-odhwc-nor-in…