Joel Ross, 24, of Rothesay, New Brunswick joined Canadian Ocean Racing’s Aspiring Offshore Athletes Program in September of 2015; one month after completing his engineering degree at McGill University in Montreal.
“I think this is a very unique program. I don’t think any of the other IMOCA teams have an average age as young as us, and it is an amazing opportunity for young Canadians to get involved with.”
Joel started sailing at the age of 12 at Rothesay Yacht Club, on the Kennebecasis River in New Brunswick. He sailed mainly dinghy’s, with some weeknight racing around the cans on a C&C 35. Joel took a hiatus from sailing at the age of 16 to focus on baseball, and then his engineering degree. He played baseball for the province of New Brunswick, as well as in one of the top junior leagues in the country; Ligue Baseball Junior Elite du Quebec.
He got back into sailing during the summer of 2014, while completing an internship at Future Fibres in Newport, Rhode Island. That summer marked the start of Joel’s offshore career, and in the past 14 months he has logged roughly 10,000 miles.
He competed in the 2015 Caribbean 600, and Rolex Fastnet, as well as completing several major deliveries; including a Transatlantic with COR in preparation for the TJV. The team left Newport, RI, on his 24th birthday, and the crossing was probably the best birthday present he has received thus far.
“The boat (O Canada) is a lot of fun to sail, however it requires an astounding amount of work to prepare the boat for racing. We have had to deal with a lot of unexpected problems, which I think has made us more resilient, and closer, as a team.”
Currently living in Vancouver, Joel is working as a rigger and continuing to sail as much as possible. He hopes to continue aiding in growing offshore sailing in Canada, in order to make it easier for young Canadian sailors to get involved. His future hopes include a spot with a Volvo Ocean Race campaign, and hopefully one day an All-Canadian Volvo team.
