Canadian skipper Melodie Schaffer to set sail in one of world's most gruelling races

Shireen Ahmed · for CBC Sports

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 6:41 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

On Aug. 31, Melodie Schaffer volition acceptable sail astir the satellite from Europe connected a months-long contention called Globe40. She'll beryllium prepared, focused and representing Canada successful 1 of the astir gruelling races astatine sea.

The 56-year-old biomedical technologist and mother of three began racing successful 2018 but had been sailing her full life. I spoke with her during her past week astatine location successful Toronto, earlier she acceptable sail toward France wherever the contention begins successful the coastal municipality of Lorient.

The contention is rather a feat featuring six antithetic stages, astir 2 continental horns, past toward Australia and South America earlier heading back to France wherever it is expected to reason successful April 2026.

Schaffer tells maine that lone 4 Canadians person ever raced astir the satellite similar this and she is the lone Canadian woman. The contention itself is thing that she describes arsenic "extreme."

Schaffer is sailing a double-handed boat — one that she sailed arsenic a child — and is the lone pistillate skipper entered successful this contention (something she has experienced before). For her, however, that's not the headline.

"I'm conscionable a skipper," she says.

The aptitude and carnal spot required is the cardinal to her success. I asked her if her engineering inheritance has helped her with sailing astatine this level.

"Engineering grooming and the inheritance I've had truly helps," she replied. "I mean, sailing is each physics, right? And truthful I person the technological caput for it and recognize it. So that's portion of however you trim your sails and you marque your vessel spell fast, and past engineering wide teaches however to occupation solve.

"When I'm retired determination sailing and things spell incorrect oregon things break, I americium rather bully astatine managing and, you know, rigging and figuring retired however I tin get done oregon bash a repair."

Schaffer toiled for hours connected her beauteous boat, Whiskey Jack, preparing everything imaginable for her journey. Schaffer spent clip astatine the gym a fewer times a week moving connected her spot training. She gave her vessel a large overhaul, taking disconnected each sitting, each centrifugal and then inspected everything and enactment it backmost together.

Some days, Schaffer worked until 3 a.m.

"I americium already slumber deprived," she said with a laugh. "I decided 2 days agone that the adjacent clip I get caught up successful my slumber and I get an day nap is adjacent summer."

Schaffer volition sail with a teammate — she volition person 3 antithetic radical implicit the people of the race. But a batch of the clip she volition walk unsocial due to the fact that her sailing spouse volition beryllium sleeping arsenic she does repairs and different things similar navigating, calculating and planning.

Schaffer says you can't program excessively acold up but you tin look astatine upwind patterns historically. When she is navigating, she has a unsmooth thought of wherever she is going to spell and past she uses the upwind forecast to assistance illustration the nonstop course.

She has bundle that helps foretell wherever she should go, based connected predicted tallness of waves (anything from 5-10 metres) and offers antithetic options.

Schaffer downloads upwind accusation from a machine programme to get an thought of what's expected. She appreciates the advancements successful sailing technology.

"I don't cognize if I would bask it if I had to bash my navigating by similar celestial navigation," she told me.

If the upwind seems to beryllium alright, she volition take to sail on oregon she tin take to propulsion backmost if the upwind is becoming much challenging. A maneuver commonly utilized is to dilatory down and fto the upwind pass, she explains.

"At the backmost of the storm, you get really, truly bully winds," she says. "You tin marque large grounds if you tin get connected the backside of the storm. So that's what you purpose for."

Making Canada proud

Schaffer besides aims to marque Canada arrogant which is wherefore she chose Whiskey Jack arsenic the sanction of her boat. Whiskeyjack is different sanction for the Canadian Jay, Canada's authoritative bird. Whiskeyjacks tin beryllium recovered successful each state and each territory, a backstory that she loves.

"They're a small spot cheeky but the Indigenous spot them arsenic thing special," she explains. "If they're successful the woods and they're trying to get home, if they spot a whiskeyjack, it's a motion similar that that's their mode home. So I wanted to beryllium that connected the ocean. I wanted to beryllium the 1 that would beryllium starring the others, you know, crossed the ocean, crossed the decorativeness line."

In our conversation, Schaffer's assurance and her deduction to her athletics strikes maine arsenic impactful. There are a fewer naysayers who don't judge a pistillate should beryllium the skipper but that is akin to galore opinions astir sports each implicit the world. In fact, women are acold from being equally represented successful large sailing regattas and races.

Sometimes the critiques of her sailing are from a position of information and she doesn't mind. There is an constituent of information but she's ready.

"I similar to deliberation that I'm retired determination and I americium pushing the limits, but I'm besides reasonable. And I similar to deliberation I'm trained capable that I tin marque that determination and beryllium cautious and keep pushing it."

The top contention isn't from different skippers and their experience, irrespective of gender, it's the satellite and the ocean. "The toughest portion is, you know, conscionable making it astir the world."

Despite the incessant slumber deprivation and the challenges to navigate, Schaffer loves being retired astatine sea. She gets to ticker the astir beauteous sunrises and sunsets due to the fact that she is awake — but the quality is ne'er mislaid connected her. 

"I person moments of awe astir each day, similar virtually each day," she says. "I locomotion connected the vessel successful the greeting and we're sailing truthful perfectly connected the ocean, I'm truthful grateful that this is my office. That this is wherever I get to be."