Rob Weiland Sensible targets
Paul Cayar
Since 2016 World Sailing has had a document on its website labelled ‘Sustainability Agenda, a bold ambition for sailing’s contribution to global sustainability’. I assume most sailors, like me, never registered its existence, let alone read it. However, that changed when it was pointed out to me at the World Sailing Conference in Malaga.
The first thing I notice is it is dated May 2018. Consequently
many of the pledges reference past dates so it would be good to know whether targets were met, adjusted, updated and so on... It describes World Sailing’s mission as ‘To create a tangible sustain- ability programme that maximises the positive effect that the sailing community can have on our environment’. Unavoidably its nine key objectives are then broad titles mainly
covering how World Sailing events and venues shall aim to operate. Seven are related to the environment and education: reducing the carbon footprint of sailing, respect for ecosystem health and bio- diversity, ensuring sustainability is embedded into teaching and coaching, promoting a culture of sustainability across federations,
to set and execute effective sustainability goals, whether individually or for a company, a town or a nation, let alone for the world to agree on an approach that has a fair chance of achieving a longterm result. For generations we have been downplaying the environmental impact of how we live, but it is getting clearer by the day that new balances are needed. Also for sailing… but how will this affect us?
Equipment Most sailing equipment is built to last but not (yet) to be recycled, let alone to be reused. The principal exception concerning longevity for sure is sails, certainly racing sails. Some will be sold on and used till falling apart at lower levels of competition, but the larger and more unique the boat the less chance this will ever happen. Recycling sails the way they are built today is difficult, and finan-
cially far from interesting. My perception is that the industry is aware this needs to be tackled and has started to investigate and act. But as sailors what are we doing? Some have taken tentative
first steps, like the Imoca class which recently introduced its Green Sail rule (one green sail to be part of the inventory of eight) which it plans to extend and also make more stringent. But what defines a Green Sail? In this case a green sail can be
made from alternative materials and/or be fully recyclable. Further focus should be placed on waste and energy reduction throughout the manufacturing process, as well as obtaining the energy that is used from renewable sources. To be able to recycle sails is one thing, it is quite another to make
sails that never end up as waste (circular economy). To make Green Sails perform as well as the latest-generation composite racing sails is the goal, or perhaps the dream. But until then we will need rules to enforce their use. Composite materials have far wider applications than just in
Instead of always carping on about water bottles World Sailing would improve perception by throwing far more of its weight at the vastly greater problem of non-degradable abandoned boats. The fishing boat is rotting away nicely; the grp tender will still be there long after Sweden’s Mini-Me finally tires of yelling at people
events, venues and affiliated industries, taking a science-based approach underpinned by research, and ensuring credibility and transparency through robust monitoring and reporting. Then of the final two, one is about technical rules: ‘Set technical
standards by 2030 to reduce the environmental impact of the sailing industry focusing on end of life of composites and engine and energy technology’. Rules always get my interest! The second of these two adds what is often labelled as social
sustainability to the agenda: ‘Promote diversity and accessibility across the sport, drive gender equity at World Sailing events in line with IOC 2020 targets’. In itself an essential cause towards a better world. But combining gender equity with improving water quality by reducing pollution does not help to focus on either! It would surely be more productive to produce case-specific, more detailed agendas for each environmental, social and economic sustainability? Mentioning these three pillars of sustainability takes us back to
1987 and the Brundtland Report, Our Common Future. This land- mark report defined sustainability as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’. While typing I am watching the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix complete
with the traditional flyover featuring an Etihad superjumbo and seven Aermacchi 339 jets. Verstappen wins and it is fireworks everywhere. Of course environmentally this is very small beer compared to
the CO2 production of the 1.5 billion cars and 40,000 commercial large aircraft in the world; but once we start downplaying the envi-
ronmental impact of individual actions by referencing their contri- bution to the total impact we will never get anywhere. It is not easy
36 SEAHORSE
building boats, rigs or sails. I guess that foremost it will be those other industries that our industry follows towards more sustainability. To date composites are primarily made from raw materials and resins that are all derived from oil, automatically making them unsustainable. Manufacturing composites as well as composite manufacturing is energy intensive; the latter generates in weight more (if not much more) waste than the weight of the finished item. A shocking fact that is still not widely appreciated. But the finished product is often lighter than any alternative for the same strength, so composites should not be discarded as part of the solution. Biocomposites (material formed by a resin and a reinforcement
of natural fibres like hemp) seem to be one answer, possibly used in a mix with synthetic fibres (hybrid composites). Biocomposites could be a renewable source, cheap, and in certain cases (near) completely recyclable, but they have limitations due to lack of compatibility between synthetic resins and natural fibres. A further step would be the so-called ‘green composites’ based
on combining natural fibres with biodegradable resins. Other complications of biocomposites include humidity absorption, flammability, anisotropic properties and processability. So which technical standards does World Sailing aim to have in
place by 2030? That Sustainability Agenda includes: l Require a 50 per cent reduction in boatbuilding waste (by weight) across World Sailing classes. l Specify that all race yachts under World Sailing classes and ratings will not be solely reliant on fossil fuels to produce power onboard, or for auxiliary drive. l Implement a new sustainability standard that Olympic Class equipment manufacturers will have to meet and World Sailing classes/rating system managers will be encouraged to adopt by 2024… Including labour and environmental control standards. l Develop an online reporting tool that all World Sailing classes will have to subscribe to recording their environmental impact. As always the main focus of World Sailing is on Olympic equip-
ment, not equipment used for racing offshore. Consequently ‘we’ often run into trouble using World Sailing rules for offshore racing. The ‘mass’ production of one-design equipment allows more
ALAMY
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