Melodie Schaffer joined Shellbacks once again, this time with World Races. She embarked on the inaugural Globe 40 Double Handed Race Around the World in her Class 40 boat 'Whiskey Jack'. The race entailed 8 legs, around all three Capes. She sailed 35,000 miles in this adventure with 174 days on the ocean. From torn sails, to pirates, to no wind instruments or communication at times, the challenges were immense. Despite the challenges, she won leg 7, and set three race records including the overall one of 347 miles in a 24 hour period. She was the only female skipper for the entire race. About Melodie Schaffer
Melodie is the daughter of Howard Ridge, a longtime Shellbacks member. She has sailed and raced out of RCYC on variety of boats from dinghies (Laser, 470, I14) to keel boats (Shark, C&C 39s, 8 Meter, J105). She currently owns a Dufour 34 at the Club. Four years ago, she began offshore racing. She sailed in the 2019-2020 Clippber Round the World Race in the Southern Ocean leg and the Asian leg. She was then to race across the Pacific in March 2020, but it was postponed due to the Covid pandemic. Two years ago, she bought a Class 40, a doublehanded offshore race boat. She trained for a couple weeks and then sailed the boat to France to compete in the Trans Jacques Vabre, a race from Le Havre, France to Martinique. This race draws the top sailors in the world. Competitors sail Ocean 50s, Class 40s, Ultims (100 foot trimarans) and IMOCA 60s; all are racing doublehanded. She competed with a fellow Canadian and they were the first Canadians to finish the race. She was one of 14 women in the race, out of the 180 skippers. Melodie has just completed the Globe 40 Round the World race. She is a biomedical engineer by profession, and more recently a sailing photographer. She has three children.
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