Sailing all together against pollution
As sailors we have been captivated by nature since our early childhood. We loved it so much that we decided to build most of our lives around it.
Day after day, while being driven by wind and waves, we felt more and more connected.
Our wonderful seas deserve all our admiration and respect. And just as we have enjoyed them all this years, we surely want future generations to do so as well. Due to plastics and other types of pollution caused by humans, not only our playground but also the whole life as we know it is at risk.
This is why we decided to create EurILCA’s Sustainability Programme. With the aim of raising awareness among all sailors about this dramatic situation, we seek to promote changes in our daily habits and product choices that will help to stop causing more damage and heal our oceans. Let’s start to change for us, our seas and our future sailors.
Our mission
- Putting sustainability systematically in the heart of sailing events and ensuring that every event organized under EurILCA is sustainable.
- Assuring that sustainability is as a fundamental concept as wind is to sailors.
- Raising awareness within the sailing community and encouraging good habits.
- Inspire and influence other class associations, federations and sailing clubs to replicate our initiatives.
Our actions
We created guidelines and a toolkit on how to host an eco-friendly championship (click here to download).- Added sustainability requirements to contracts signed between EurILCA and the clubs hosting the events (click here to download).
- We provided the event organisers with full digital services: online notice board, messaging and results management, to help them reduce the amount of printed communication in all our European championships.
Introduced reusable mast sleeves to identify fleets in all our European championships, avoiding the organisers to produce plastic stickers to be placed on the hulls, that were a massive waste by themselves, but also some times ended up in the seas.- We implemented reusable coaches flags in all our European championships, in order to avoid the production of stickers or other single-use plastics to attach to their boats.
We implemented water refilling stations in all our European championships, where sailors could refill their water bottles instead of buying new single-use plastic bottles.- Integrated the use of social media for awareness (click here to follow).
Latest achievements
August 2024
The 2024 ILCA 6 Youth European Championships & Open European Trophy received the Clean Regattas’ highest level certification by Sailors for the Sea.
We want to thank and congratulate the staff at Ballyholme Yacht Club for such a wonderful and sustainable event in Bangor, Northern Ireland.
March 2024
The 2024 ILCA Under 21 European Championships & Open European Trophy received the Clean Regattas’ Bronze certification by Sailors for the Sea.
We want to thank and congratulate the staff at Reial Club Nautic Port de Pollensa for their commitment to organise a sustainable event in Mallorca, Spain.
LATEST NEWS
In September 2022, our Sustainability Program has been nominated among four worldwide finalists to the highest recognition of success in marine sustainability, 11th Hour Racing World Sailing Sustainability Awards.
Our mandatory requirements for sailing clubs organizing European Championships, as well as our efforts to spread awareness and reduce plastic waste has been recognized as a low-cost easily replicable initiative.
We are inviting all federations and class associations to replicate our program or create their own to fight ocean pollution and spread awareness in our community!
It’s time to take collective action to save our oceans that has given us so much.
HOW TO ORGANISE AN ECO-EVENT
JOIN US!
Nature need us to make our best to stop harming our planet. There’s no time to wait! Would you join us on this fight?
Whether you are a sailor, coach, race organizer or sailing fan, we would love to count with your help as volunteer. This way we’ll have more hands on deck to develop our sustainability actions faster.
Ready to step in!? Contact us!
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