Justin Shaffer
Special Projects
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO CONNECT WITH THE OCEAN?
Any sailing experience offshore is way up there for me in terms of connecting to the ocean. I love the combination of the focus, the physical effort, the connection to sea life, and the ritual and routine of extended periods of time offshore.
IF YOU WERE A MARINE ANIMAL WHAT WOULD YOU BE?
An albatross, I’ve always loved them. I love how they travel in the Southern Ocean and how they are both comfortable alone and social. Also, their wingspan is impressive!
WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN TO YOU?
Sustainability to me, means living in balance. A delicate balance between nature, humanity, and technology, which doesn’t feel like we’re achieving today as a society. Thinking deeply about consumption and production and what’s consumed verse genuinely recycled. Thinking about materials we use in our day to day lives, and thinking about how we can develop technology to help stabilize or even unwind the impact we’ve made throughout the industrial and information revolution.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO SAILING?
I’ve been racing since my childhood, but just started racing professionally two years ago after a successful career in media and technology. My efforts most recently have been focused on the effective use of technology to create sustainable competitive advantage for the teams I sail for and work with.
YOUR SAILING HIGHLIGHTs:
The Transatlantic the summer of 2021 with the team on the IMOCA was a definite highlight for me. Another one was the 20th anniversary of the 1998 Sydney Hobart, where we had Pete Dean onboard with us on Winning Appliances, whose father had passed away in the ’98 race. No one expected us to do well, and we ended up 4th overall and 2nd in class on the Winning Appliances. The Pac52 class championship win at home on San Francisco Bay with Rio in 2018 was a great one as well.