Champions Chris Green and Matthieu Marfaing take on Worrell 1000 Race in name of Clean Sailors
Chris Green has been racing F-18 catamarans since 2004 in both buoy and distance events. He has competed in three Hobie Tiger World championships, three F-18 Nationals including a 7th place and many regattas in both Texas and California. His F-18 distance racing credentials include competing in the Great Texas 300 nine times, winning the event in 2010 and multiple podium finishes in other years. Chris has also raced the Tybee 500 twice, finishing in 4th place and in 2019 completed the Worrell 1000 reunion race in 3rd place including a stage win.
“I find myself drawn to the ocean, never living more than 5 minutes from the water in the past twenty years. The sea provides adventure for humans both above and below the waves, but we are merely guests in this domain and must become better stewards of these fragile ecosystems so future generations may enjoy their stunning diversity.” says Chris.
French sailor, Matthieu Marfaing, was born on Reunion Island, a small island in the Indian Ocean. He discovered sailing at a young age when his parents took their young family on an amazing five-year sailing trip around the world. The incredible experience got Matt hooked on sailing and he could not wait to compete at a high level.
Over the years Matthieu sailed multiple boats starting with Hobie Cat 16. After joining the French national team, he quickly moved to F18, Tornado, all kinds of multihulls, skiff and fast monohulls. From the beach cat to the 60 foot offshore Trimaran, Matt had the opportunity to ride some of the most amazing sail boats in the world alongside some incredible sailors. These years of experience and winning made him an extremely competitive sailor. Although he is initially a French citizen, he has been training and living in California since 2016.
“Oceans are the lungs of our planet” says Matt, “As sailors, this is not only our everyday environment, playground, or racing track, but the place that tells us of our planet’s health.
Having travelled all over the world since a young age, I have witnessed immensely rich, diverse and majestic marine ecosystems but I am worried about their survival. For example, not only am I worried about consuming microplastics myself, I am worried for the millions of people who rely heavily on fish as their diet and on fishing as their income. And I am also worried for the marine creatures who are now in danger of extinction. We all have a responsibility to act, to protect the future of our oceans and to give future generations the same chance to experience the wonders of our waters.
This is why inspiring other sailors to do the right thing; to protect our oceans, is very important to me. Together we are stronger and we can make our seas cleaner.’’
About the Worrell 1000
Worrell 1000 is a 1,000-mile beach catamaran race between South Beach, Florida and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
2022 marks the 22nd running of the Worrell 1000 - 15 teams representing 6 different countries will take to the Atlantic waters - Starting May 9th in Hollywood Florida and ending in VA Beach on May 21st. Many past Worrell champions and competitors are returning including the 2019 Champions, Team Australia, and 6-time Worrell Champion and past Olympian Randy Smyth. All are gunning for a place of honor not only as the Worrell Champion - but to beat the course record of 71 Hours, 32 Minutes and 55 Seconds and be the new recipient of the Ron Anthony Memorial Perpetual Trophy for Course Record.
About Clean Sailors
Clean Sailors is a not-for-profit, mobilising the global sailing community in conservation of our oceans. Launched in July 2020, Clean Sailors' mission is to set a new standard of sailing within our global sailing community: clean sailing, by raising awareness of ocean conservation opportunities within our sport, our passion, our pastime.
The crew's aim is to make an ocean ambassador of each and every sailor around the world, and Clean Sailor’s already counts three-time world champion and four-time Paralympian Hannah Stodel, as well as CJ Perez, the youngest ever sailor to join the SailGP league, as ambassadors to their cause.
In 2021, Clean Sailors launched Cleaner Marina with industry partners including boatfolk, MDL Marinas, savvy navvy and Ecoworks Marine, to encourage better, cleaner standards across marinas, ports and harbours, globally.
In January 2022, Clean Sailors announced the launch of the Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team with three international Champion sailors; CJ Perez (18) the youngest sailor ever to join the SailGP league and the first Latina, Lukas Hesse (22), German Champion 2020 and Swiss sailor Jann Schüpbach (20). 2022 will see the exceptional young champions compete together in the Persico 69F, at the very highest standard of foiling and as ambassadors for cleaner, healthier seas and a cleaner sailing industry.