The only way to fully understand boats is to spend time in boats. Colin has explored the world voyaging over 30,000 km in human powered craft including rowboats, whitewater kayaks and canoes. He has voyaged a further 25,000 km in a variety of small sailboats.
He was awarded National Geographic’s Adventurer of the Year award for being the first to circle the world exclusively by human power, was listed by Outside Magazine as one of the world’s top 25 bold visionaries and is a Canadian Geographic Fellow. Last year, Men’s Journal listed Colin as one of the top 25 explorers in the past 25 years.
It is the time that Colin has spent on the water that inspired him to co-found Angus Rowboats, a company that pushes the boundaries of performance recreational craft. Designing around the parameters of modest human propulsion means that attention has to be paid to every detail to maximize performance, while not compromising seaworthiness. This understanding of small boats, developed through trial and error and rigorous testing, is what is required to develop reliable high-performance autonomous craft. Energy-harvesting boats must perform well and reliably with very little energy input, which is Colin’s specialty.