Ambassadors Reporting from Gaastra Palmavela

Our Ambassadors Tom Burnham (TP52 Quantum Racing), Andy Green (Wally 80 Nahita), Jamie Haines and Andy Horton (TP52 Interlodge Sailing Team) were racing in Palma de Mallorca last week at Gaastra Palmavela 2015. They reported back on the event and they engaged with the race organizers and class representatives to promote positive change and stewardship.

The team on Interlodge has a filtration system in place to get fresh water from the dock, so they can refill their re-usable water bottles right before stepping on board.

The team on Quantum Racing had a similar system in place last season and will have it ready to go at the next event, so in Palma they were refilling their water bottles from 5-gallon water jugs.

Andy Green was able to talk his team into getting re-usable water bottles at their next scheduled event in Sardinia, and talks are underway to get the whole Wally Class on board.

All the above teams complied with Rule 55 (no trash), by using velcro or zipper systems on their spinnakers.

Lastly, all members of the three teams were walking/cycling or skateboarding to and from their boats/accommodation, saving on fuel consumption and emissions.

Although these might seem like small drops in a big ocean, if you start doing some simple math, the figures are staggering: Quantum Racing and Interlodge together saved approximately 1,400 single-use water bottles in one week of training/racing! Including Wally 80 Nahita, the three teams collectively saved about 60 meters of wool per day from trashing the sea, for a total of 420 meters in one week. Every day, each team collectively covered about 32 miles of distance on foot/bikes/skateboards…

11th Hour Racing Ambassadors are leading by example, by integrating environmentally responsible practices into their sailing.