The two-handed crusade to raise awareness about ocean pollution

Ian and Annika Thomson, the founders of Ocean Crusaders, are gearing up to raise awareness about ocean pollution on the global stage during the 2022 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race.

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While most entrants competing in the 2022 Rolex Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race have the goal of crossing the finish line first, Ian and Annika Thomson have their eyes on a different prize.

“Clean oceans make us all winners,” Ian said.

The couple, who founded waterway cleaning charity Ocean Crusaders, are setting sail on J-Bird - their zero emissions TP52 race yacht - to raise awareness about water pollution.

With a large ‘OceanCrusaders.org’ sticker plastered on the boom of the vessel, Ian and Annika are hoping their charity gets worldwide attention as people tune into what is expected to be the biggest Sydney to Hobart race on record. 

“We’re competing as a bit of a reward after pulling out 272 tonnes of rubbish from southeast Queensland waters this year, but also, we just want to jump through the hoops to get the electric drive in to pave the way for future boats wanting to do the same,” Ian said.

Ian and Annika will solely rely on the power of the elements, unlike traditional race yachts that still require fossil fuel propulsion to get to the start line or get out of the marina.

“We feel you don’t need that because you can use the elements – whether it’s solar, wind generators or hydropower generators,” Ian said.

“We actually have all three so we can charge our battery on board and we won’t use any fuel.”

Ian and Annika will be competing in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race’s two-handed division.

“Two-handed racing has been taking the world by storm – last year was the first time it was ever allowed in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, and this year is the first time we can actually win the overall race,” Ian said.

“Recently, a two-handed crew won the warm-up race to the Sydney to Hobart which is promising to see.”

Worldwide travel sparks idea for waterway cleaning charity

As skippers from the Whitsundays, both Ian and Annika have seen first-hand the damage that plastics are having on the marine environment – particularly on turtles and other endangered sea creatures.

In 2010, Ian broke the world record for sailing around Australia in the fastest time, which helped him to create a profile for himself and raise awareness about polluted waterways.

After marrying Annika in 2015 and setting sail for a worldwide Honeymoon trip, the couple realised that water pollution was a problem right across the globe – not just in Australia.

Once they returned home, they built the Ocean Crusaders work boat that relies on volunteers to jump on board and help clean our waterways.

A mutual interest of clean waterways sparks partnership with Rivergate

Rivergate is proudly sponsoring J-Bird in the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race after providing free hardstand and berthing time while Ian and Annika prepared the vessel for its big voyage.

“The Rivergate partnership started because we’re always cleaning the river, particularly after the floods,” Ian said.

“We spent a lot of time just on the other side of the bridge here, stopping big pontoons from coming down and hitting superyachts.

“Rivergate has always had an interest in keeping the waterways clean. When we mentioned that we had a yacht entering the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race and the plans for what we want to do, they were very, very good and jumped on board with us and gave us the free hardstand and free berthing while we get it ready for the race.”

If you’re tuning into the big race, keep an eye out for the Rivergate logo on J-Bird’s boom!

To learn more about the conservation efforts of Ian, Annika and the Ocean Crusaders volunteer crew, visit https://oceancrusaders.org/.