About Us

Sustainability | Accessibility | Exploration | Leadership

mission

Project Bluewater Racing cultivates the next generation of offshore sailboat racers as the sole non-profit in San Diego providing college students access to offshore sailing education and training while upholding the values of environmental stewardship.

vision

Provide accessibility to offshore sailboat racing for the next generation of diversified lifelong sailors who will remain committed to activism supporting clean waterways and oceans where healthy sea life can live free from pollutants and plastics.

values

SUSTAINABILITY: We are responsible for leaving our oceans better than we found them through the pioneering adoption and promotion of sustainable practices at sea and the novel projects undertaken to better our harbors, bays, and oceans. Furthermore, the cohesive environment we provide during training and racing yachts offshore promotes mental health through physical challenge in a serene ocean atmosphere free from the stressors of everyday life and media distractions.

EXPLORATION: We have a duty to move ocean science forward by serving as a scientific research and education platform.

ACCESSIBILITY: We believe that all students from diverse backgrounds should have an opportunity to participate in offshore sailing in a safe and fun environment, and that removing barriers to the sport for the next generation is broadly beneficial.

LEADERSHIP: We value the unique platform offshore sailing provides to develop cohesion, respect, and cooperation amongst team members, establishing skills for becoming future leaders on and off the water.

Our Story

After four years of coaching the UC San Diego Sailing Team, Robert Capita had a discussion at Mission Bay Yacht Club with Nicholas Dorn, who served as leadership for the sailing team and was graduating that year. They looked back on the successful achievements of the team members and contemplated how to best help these new young sailors continue to become more involved in the sailing community, and to be supportive for the health of our oceans and waterways.

During this time, Robert Capita was racing on a DK46, “Maasai” owned by Ned Warner. Robert began inviting sailors from the UCSD Sailing Team to join the crew for the purpose of providing education for offshore sailing on a big boat. Ned enjoyed the improved performance of his racing yacht with Robert aboard coaching the UCSD students. In addition, Ned and the UCSD sailors discovered they had a common passion for the conservation of the oceanic environment we sail in and the idea of promoting sustainable practices on and offshore. With help from two more additional founding board members, Noah Barton and Canyon Breyer, Project Bluewater Racing was born.

Project Bluewater Racing's board of directors agreed to accept the donation of “Maasai” and have been actively working at upgrading the organization’s flagship vessel for safe and efficient use as required by the foundation’s mission.

Racing history

Meet The Team

Our Team

Robert Capita

Founder & CEO

Robert Capita is a lifelong sailor with over 30 years of experience as a sailing coach. After mastering small boat sailing skills at American Yacht Club, Rye NY, and being part of a National Championship winning crew for the Sears Cup in 1979, Robert continued to enjoy high level fleet, team, match, and offshore racing in bodies of water around the world. With 80,000 NM of offshore experiences, including six years of sailing in Australia, Robert has a fun list of stories he loves to share with his sailing students. Robert is current coach of UCSD Sailing Team, and instructor of American Sailing Association courses. Acquiring over 30 years' experience in the Marine Industry, a solid safety at sea background, and a 50 Ton USCG License, Robert has a broad area of skills to share with Project Bluewater Racing members.

Nicholas Dorn

Vice President

Nick Dorn grew up sailing on San Francisco Bay, building a passion for racing sail boats in the Club 420 fleet and as part of a youth match racing team. At UCSD he raced small boats as the “A” skipper and served as commodore of the UCSD Sailing team. In keelboats, he led the UCSD team to 2nd place at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta and the teams first-ever berth at the ICSA’s big boat national championship, the Kennedy Cup. He was a part of the division 7 champion crew in the 2021 Transpac race, and crewed the second monohull to cross the line in the 2023 Transpac. He is currently a Chemical Engineering PhD candidate at Stanford University, and continues to match race and fleet race on the San Francisco Bay whenever he can.

Canyon Breyer

Program Director

Canyon Breyer first sailed with the Los Angeles Maritime Institute (LAMI) on the 110-ton brigantine Irving Johnson in 2014. After two years in the rigging, working as a volunteer educator, he joined the UC San Diego sailing team and began racing dinghies competitively. Serving as the team’s captain in 2019-2020, he grew the team to its largest point with 55 active members. Canyon has raced more than 1500 nautical miles along the California Coast. He aims to fill the San Diego big boat community with young sailors and share the feeling of serenity that he gets from offshore sailing.

Tobie Bloom

Sectretary

Tobie Bloom is a young sailor from the small island of Anguilla where he learned dinghy sailing and developed a deep passion for the environment. While pursuing an environmental chemistry degree at the University of California, San Diego, Tobie raced for the school at numerous collegiate races including GLIOR in Chicago and the Helly Hansen Sailing World Series in San Diego. When not racing, he enjoys cruising around the Caribbean Sea on varying degrees on classic yachts. Most recently he rescued a 26ft classic yacht built in 1935 built by Harrison Butler from Antigua and sailed it back up to Anguilla. Tobie is currently focused on securing Private and corporate sponsors for Project Blue Water Racing, in order to guarantee the next generation of sustainable sailors.

Alexis Gregorie

Fundraising & Design Director

Alexis Gregorie is a student at UC San Diego, studying Biology and Mechanical engineering. She is on UCSD's sailing team, serving as travel coordinator this season. She learned how to sail on the team, where she fell in love with the sport. She is competing for UCSD in several keelboat collegiate races including GLIOR and IOR this fall. She feels very blessed to race with no prior background or affiliation before joining the team and wants to extend this opportunity to others. She is passionate and committed to increasing the accessibility of sailing to college students. When she isn't on the water, you can find her up on the mountain skiing.

Adem Evecek

Maintenance Director

Adem is a current UCSD mechanical engineering student and member of the UCSD sailing team. He is originally from Sydney, Australia, where he first learned how to sail. He began racing in college for UCSD and he has quickly developed a deep love for it. He is also a member of the UCSD keelboat team and is committed to promoting a clean and sustainable ocean for all to enjoy sailing in.

Mickey Moore

Board Advisor

As a Colorado native, bareboat charter captain and sailing enthusiast, Mickey has retired from a 50+ year consulting career in Business Management, IT and Software Development. He now gladly shares his experience, knowledge and passions with organizations such as Project Bluewater Racing, Colorado Mesa University and local public schools.

Noah Barton

Science Director

Noah learned how to sail with his dad on a Hobie 16 in Chicago and instantly fell in love with the water. Throughout his sailing career, he has been fortunate enough to race competitively in high school and college, coach an Opti race team over the summers and enjoy passages with his family. When racing, he loves to do foredeck. He studied Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Scripps Institute of Oceanography at UCSD.