Captain Donald Lawson's new Record breaking trimaran
Diane Johnson
Captain Donald Lawson presented at NWMA last year and has attended some of our NWMA Zoom meetings since then. At last he has revealed his new sailboat! "Defiant" is an ORMA 60 trimaran that has broken many records and was formerly called Mighty Merloe and Groupama 2. We may see Captain Lawson soon, he plans to sail into Seattle area in mid-June. He asked me to share some news with NWMA.
Mighty Merloe sets Transpac multihull course record - photo © Sharon Green
I encourage everyone to see more photos and interesting info at https://www.sail-world.com/news/247970/Captain-Donald-Lawson-on-his-Dark-Seas-Project and in attached file. Some excerpts:
(He) “aims the project at expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) within sailing, while also taking aim at a lengthy list of offshore records. ….. he plans … to expand awareness and knowledge of clean-energy systems…
Lawson plans to take on 35 different offshore benchmarks in the next ten years aboard Defiant…
“I plan to operate on the West Coast for the next couple of years, but then I plan to take her to the East Coast …. There will be a number of international visits… TransPacific, TransAtlantic, Miami to NYC, and others are on the schedule. We have been in contact with the World Sailing Speed Record Council….”
” … I was traveling the country teaching about the importance of DE&I …. we created a non-profit Dark Seas Project to allow us to continue during our talks and be able to legally receive the donations and support.”
“Ironically, my work as the chairperson for US Sailing's DE&I Committee has coincided with this work and my work has become even more important. I always stress that people of every background should feel welcomed into the sport. That is the only way the sport grows. If you don't extend your hand to the people who are nervous, they will assume you don't want them. So, make an effort, invite people who traditionally don't do what we love and you may end up making a new lifetime friend, spouse, crew member, etc.”
“….If anyone wants to donate to the program, visit this link: checkout.square.site/merchant/MLCCX6SQYXT41/checkout/BOLW2BO3NRT7TTWGWF4ITXEK
“I would like everyone to share what we are doing and reach out to me on Facebook or Instagram if you have questions or just want to follow our progress. Donations are always welcomed and appreciated. I hope everyone enjoys the journey!”
(His contact info is in email below at very end.)
From: Captain Donald Lawson <don...@captaindonaldlawson.com>
Sent: Monday, April 11, 2022 10:55 PM
Subject: Press Release about Acquisition of our New Record breaking trimaran
