SCOTT'S STORY
Who is Scott Shawyer?
Scott Shawyer is a Canadian offshore sailor and entrepreneur, and the skipper and president of Canada Ocean Racing. He is currently campaigning in the IMOCA class, the pinnacle of solo ocean racing, with the goal of being the first Canadian to complete the Vendée Globe, widely regarded as the toughest race in the world.
More about Scott Shawyer
What would you do if you gave yourself permission to find out what you’re capable of?
Scott Shawyer didn’t set out to become an offshore sailor.
For most of his life, he was building something else – a company, a career, a family. He founded an engineering business, grew it over decades, led teams, solved problems, and did it well.
Scott has spent his whole life testing what he’s capable of, in engineering, business, ski racing, triathlon, and now ocean racing. Each chapter is a different experiment on the same question: what am I capable of?
And now, he’s using the Vendée Globe as the testing ground to answer that question, and inviting others to ask themselves: what would you do if you gave yourself permission to find out what you’re capable of.
Why did Scott Shawyer become an offshore sailor?
Scott grew up sailing on the Great Lakes of Canada. At aged 8, he began sailing in dinghies of Georgian Bay.
Fast forward to 2020, during lockdown, Scott found himself working long days – 12, sometimes 16 hours – moving forward, but not really questioning where he was going.
Then he started watching the Vendée Globe.
Sailors were setting off alone, to race non-stop, without assistance, around the world.
It wasn’t just the scale of the race that struck him. It was what it represented: freedom, uncertainty, responsibility, consequence. A world where there’s nowhere to hide, and no one else to make the decisions for you.
That moment didn’t reveal a bad life. It revealed something more subtle.
He had been running on autopilot.
“The path wasn’t wrong. I just wasn’t inspired by it anymore. And I didn’t even realise I’d stopped choosing it.”
That realisation didn’t come with a plan. It came with a question:
What happens if you take the controls back?
That’s when he started to explore offshore sailing and what it takes to become a skipper in the Vendée Globe. In 2022, he established Canada Ocean Racing to see if he could do it for himself.
What is Scott Shawyer trying to achieve?
Scott didn’t approach ocean racing as an escape. He approached it the only way he knew how – as an experiment.
He has spent his life testing what he’s capable of. Engineering. Business. Ski racing. Triathlons. Each one a different environment, but the same underlying quest.
Offshore sailing became the next — and most extreme — version of that test.
In these experiments, he is both the scientist and the subject.
Every training session, every race, every mistake becomes data. Every setback becomes part of the process.
“I didn’t know if I could do this. That’s the point. You run the experiment to find out.”
His goal is clear: to compete at the highest level of offshore sailing, and ultimately to complete the Vendée Globe and become the first Canadian to do so.
What makes Scott Shawyer different?
Perhaps the most defining part of Scott’s story isn’t the scale of the challenge; it’s the decision to become a beginner again.
After decades of experience in business, he stepped into a world where he was the least experienced person on the boat. He is learning new systems, a new language, and discovering new instincts.
Sometimes he gets things wrong and sometimes his learning takes longer than he’d like.
“I’m the least experienced person here and I chose to be.”
That choice is what makes the story resonate far beyond sailing, because it’s not really about boats or races, it’s about the willingness to start before you feel ready.
What is the reality of offshore racing?
Ocean racing has a way of stripping things back to what’s real.
There are no shortcuts offshore. No way to fake experience. No way to skip the hard parts.
There are moments that don’t make highlight reels:
- Solo training sessions where nothing clicks
- Races that don’t go to plan
- Long days in the refit shed
- Decisions that carry real consequences
- Hours in the gym, studying weather, learning the boat’s systems, taking them apart and putting them back together again
- Discomfort, lack of sleep, freeze dried food and going to the toilet in a bucket
- Loneliness
And then there are the moments of pure magic – the marine life, the dark sky from horizon to horizon with crystal clear constellations.
But ultimately, for Scott, it’s about answering the question: what am I capable of?
Canada Ocean Racing is built on the idea that the full reality is worth sharing, not just the wins, but the learning in between, because that’s where the truth is.
What is this all in service of?
While this story starts with one person, it doesn’t end there.
Through Canada Ocean Racing, Scott is using offshore sailing as a platform to contribute to something bigger.
This includes:
- Raising awareness of global water challenges through the Be Water Positive initiative
- Creating opportunities for young sailors through the Youth Pathway Programme
And ultimately, to help people find out what they’re capable of, because the most important part of asking “what am I capable of?” is what you do with the answer.
Key facts about Scott Shawyer
Name: Scott Shawyer
Nationality: Canadian
Hometown: Collingwood, Ontario
Professional background:
- ex-CEO/President of JMP Solutions (est. 1987), a global automation engineering company
- Grew the business to 300+ employees and 20,000+ projects
- Transitioned to Advisor & Board Member following acquisition in 2021
Sporting background:
- Lifelong sailor (started aged 8 on Georgian Bay)
- Competitive ski racer and triathlete
Offshore sailing career:
- Founder of Canada Ocean Racing
- Competing in the IMOCA class
- First Canadian to complete the New York Vendée (2024)
- Holder of the double-handed course record for the Royal Ocean Racing Club Transatlantic Yacht Race.
Timeline
Still in Progress
This story doesn’t have an ending yet, that’s the point. The races ahead, including the Vendée Globe, are not conclusions; they’re chapters in an ongoing experiment.
What matters is the decision to run it and continually ask the question:
What would you do if you gave yourself permission to find out what you’re capable of?
