Gentoo Sailing Team joins forces with boatfolk

Gentoo Sailing Team has announced a partnership with boatfolk. The team will be based at Haslar Marina, Gosport with the IMOCA 60 docking there after its ongoing refit.

Team principal and skipper of Gentoo, James Harayda will be joining boatfolk at various events throughout the year where he will be talking about the great challenge that is its 2024 Vendée Globe campaign and explaining how the relationship between Gentoo and boatfolk goes much deeper than a technical partnership.

The two entities have many shared values, from their commitments to sustainability (Gentoo is aiming to be carbon neutral by the 2024 Vendée Globe, and to win the race in 2028 as a carbon negative team) and to also develop the next generation of British sailors.

The Gentoo Sailing Team has established a youth programme with 20 sailors who come from a range of backgrounds and experience levels. This offers both on and off-the-water coaching, offshore racing experience, mentoring, and workshops in order to help the sailors reach their unique ambitions within the sport.

Gaining access to the boatfolk marinas will allow the programme to broaden its scope and also support boatfolk with its #boatgen initiative, which brings together young sailors. The objective of this is to ensure that young people interested in sailing have the opportunity to get out on the water in a safe, fun and inclusive environment.

“We are thrilled to join together with boatfolk,” says Harayda. “It is an organisation with a similar vision to us, and there are some exciting projects we can work on together. As a team we are really looking forward to visiting as many of the group’s marinas as we can as part of our training program and actively engaging with the #boatgen initiative.”

Dominic Zammit, director at boatfolk says: “boatfolk are always looking to support young British sailing talent and we are really happy to be able to partner with James and the Gentoo Sailing Team. We have a history of supporting British sailors to Vendée Globe success, with Alex Thomson berthing with us throughout several Vendée Globe campaigns. We can’t wait to welcome the Gentoo IMOCA 60 to Haslar Marina and to be working with James on inspiring the next generation of boaters.”