Gentoo Sailing Team partners with boatfolk

Gentoo Sailing Team partners with boatfolk © Gentoo Sailing Team

Gentoo Sailing Team are delighted to announce a partnership with national boating business, boatfolk, which aims to inspire the next generation of sailors and support the team throughout their 2024 Vendée Globe campaign.

As a result of this new partnership the Gentoo Sailing Team will be based at boatfolk's Haslar Marina in Gosport. The team are in the process of moving into their new offices at the marina and the IMOCA 60 will be docking there after its ongoing refit in August.

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 the Vendée 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 have established a Youth Program with 20 sailors who come from a range of backgrounds and experience levels. This program 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 11 boatfolk marinas across the UK - in locations as diverse as Portland in Dorset all the way up to Rhu in the Firth of Clyde - will allow the program to broaden its scope and also support boatfolk with its #boatgen initiative, which brings together young sailors, giving them all the tools they need to get into sailing. The objective 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.

James Harayda, Gentoo Sailing Team Owner said of the partnership, "We are thrilled to join together with boatfolk, 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 said, "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."