“One man can go far, but a team can go further” together with Andrew Lewis, we believe that collaboration is the key to expanding and making the best materials for the ILCA class.
First Olympics at London 2012, then Rio and finally Tokyo. Andrew is a very successful Trinidian ILCA sailor. Currently, he is the Canadian National Coach, aiming to bring up the Canadian ILCA class.
“I started sailing at 6 years old. Motivated by Robert Scheit, I knew I wanted to be an Olympian myself, worked hard through the optimist class and laser radial, and finally the ILCA 7 class.” Andrew has had many great results during his career, for example, the World Cup medal at the Genoa 2019 Word Sailing World Cup.
Sailing is one of those sports where obviously, physical capacity and strength are crucial. However, mental strength and being constant with work it the key. “One of the things Sailing has taught me is competition but, above all, protecting the planet by seeing the world from the land and from the sea, many different cultures. This created my open mind. Sailing has had a massive impact on my life, as it gave me everything I have nowadays”.
Exploring seems to be one of the main things that Sailing nurtured in Andrew, “the different ways to be an athlete, from how to eat, fitness and the different ways to sail. Always find the best thing for yourself”. Secondly, Andrew learned how to switch on and off the competition mode, as Sailing is a very exigent sport due to the long competitions, which can last for many days. “Sailing taught me that being constantly competitive is counterproductive”.
One of the most important decisions I took in my life was in 2021 when my wife and I were waiting for my daughter to be born. “After training in Canada with my team before Tokyo, I had some conversations with the Canadian high-performance director Mike Milner, who consequently offered me the job position of National Canadian Coach. This meant the retirement from Olympic sailing”. So right now, Andrew has retired as an athlete and become a full-time coach and father, leading the Canadian ILCA 7 team worldwide. Canada is also the birth-land of the ILCA class.
The Canadian team is aiming to finish off the year strong as they work towards achieving their personal bests. “We are a group have been working on many stuff during the past year”. Our main objective is to qualify the nation in 2023 for Paris 2024 in June at the ILCA world championship at Den Haag, Netherlands. On top of this, our eyes are set on the Podium at the Pan-American games in Santiago, Chile.
“The collaboration with Devoti Sailing will bring more and more great boats into the circuit and especially for the Canadian team”. Devoti Sailing is constantly aiming to improve and enhance our boats’ level to always supply top quality. “Chris Caldecoat is one of the best ILCA visionaries, and together with Luca Devoti, who has strong boatbuilding experience and is an ex-Olympic Medallist and knows how to build great boats. I believe this partnership is amazing and super beneficial for the Canadian ILCA team”. Andrew shares the same visions with Devoti Sailing, and this is the key for our collaboration to be successful.