Competitive sailing has been following a high performance, high speed, 'win at any cost' model for years. This comes with an environmental cost due to the energy and waste intensive nature of the boat building process.

Transitioning the industry to a more sustainable model is complex. It requires us to challenge the underlying paradigms of our sport, address industry path dependency, develop supportive mechanisms (rules, finance, data) and innovate under new constraints, with new goals. There is a broad range of challenges, however there are also practical, immediate actions that can progress the industry on the road to 2030. 

One element is clear: for a small industry, comprising mainly of SMEs or micro-entreprises, collaboration is key. We must find a way to pre-competitively share data, experiences, innovations, challenges and ideas. The Ocean Race, with its international audience and strong commitment to Climate Action is driving an initiative to bring that collaboration together. 

Since 2016, The Ocean Race has been involved in three workshops: one with Persico Marine boat builders in 2016, a workshop in Newport during the 2017-18 Race stopover, and an Innovation Workshop in Genoa in 2019. 

All of these events had high levels of interest and identified clear actions that the industry can take to reduce its impacts. 

Whilst there is motivation and many individual initiatives advancing action, there is evidence that the industry needs greater coherence to advance progress at the pace needed to align with 2030 targets for climate action. 

We undertook an industry-based survey in 2021 to better understand current opinions on how the industry is faring on sustainability and to identify the main barriers.

ROADMAP 2030: COLLABORATING TO ACCELERATE POSITIVE IMPACT

The 2021 Innovation Workshop calls  for commitment to industry collaboration in order to drive progress. 

A draft Roadmap, based on industry engagement, existing industry research and published action plans, highlights key actions where immediate action is required. 

Priorities include:

• Building trust and knowledge in alternative material
• Scaling up the use of alternative materials in non-structural and peripheral elements
• Coordinating of efforts to improve energy efficiency
• Maximise renewable energy through the supply chain
• Coordinating of efforts to understand waste streams and challenges
• Reducing carbon fibre waste
• Establishing a platform for collaboration
• Using the rules as a key enabler
• Maximising uptake of Life Cycle Analysis
• Building value for sponsors through environmental performance

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE ORGANISATIONS WORKING TOGETHER ON THIS INITIATIVE

RESOURCES:

• • Sustainable Boat Building (PDF)

• • Roadmap-for-decarbonisation-vessels_v13.pdf