Britain's only shorthanded offshore & ocean racing 'school' - The Offshore Academy - starts a new chapter today under the ownership of the Cowes-based company, Fourth Cape Ltd.
Led by Charles Darbyshire, Fourth Cape has taken over the Academy from OC Sport, under whose management it was sponsored by Artemis Investment Management, a partnership that has now ended.
Darbyshire has been the director of the Academy since inception in 2010 and he is now relishing the chance to run it on his own. As before, The Offshore Academy will look to train the brightest and best of Britain's young aspiring solo offshore ocean sailors with the aim of preparing them to compete in the great solo races.
"I'm excited to be launching Fourth Cape, after 14 prolific years at OC Sport, where I've experienced some incredible projects within the fully crewed, short-handed and solo ocean racing world. This new structure ensures we keep the continuity, and momentum that we've built over the last six years," said Darbyshire.
The Academy will support talented young sailors and train them in the skills of short-handed offshore racing. These include boat management, racing tactics, meteorology, sleep management, nutrition, and fitness plus media and sponsor liaison and all the other elements that go together to create world class sailors capable of winning solo trans-ocean and round-the-world races.
The Offshore Academy's goals for 2017 include helping British sailors prepare for and enter the 48th edition of the Solitaire Urgo Le Figaro, regarded as the unofficial world championship of solo ocean racing.
