Zer0emission sailed for a more sustainable regatta experience with a female crew in Hanko

by Noora

July 8, 2019

events

News

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Hangon Regatta is one of Finlands biggest sailing events attracting over 200 participating boats and nearly 50 000 visitors to a small southern city that is mostly known of it’s vivid summer life. The regatta brings together sailors from different classes and is the place for all sailors to meet and enjoy not just sailing but also meet for after sails. Hangon Regatta has a reputation of being fun and loud. Not all the feedback from the locals is positive, because the event also attracts lots of young party people to join and well – quite a mess is left behind.

To us at Zer0emission Hangon Regatta was an opportunity to bring awareness of our mission to this lively event and raise discussion as well as act for a more sustainable regatta experience. Zer0emission participated in the regatta with a female crew who did not only sail, but also organised cleaning actions on shore. The boat itself attracted a lot of attention and performed very well as an ambassador of our mission #raceagainstseapollution.

On Saturday and Sunday mornings a Hanko Cleanup Challenge sponsored by Zeropoint and North Sails was organised and led by the female crew. We cleaned up the marina, docks and shore, inviting everyone to join. Such a positive female squad was not left unnoticed!

The best feedback of our work was received from the local juniors who were on the same mission as us now for the fifth year in a row. The extremely efficient cleanup patrol told us that the word is starting to spread around sailors and that the regatta area was in better condition than in years. We would like to give this group of volunteers a big hand! The work these kids were doing was just amazing.

What it comes to sailing itself, the regatta offered an amazing experience on Friday and Saturday, unfortunately on Sunday the wind was too light and the third start could not be organised. The female crew grew more familiar to the boat and it’s manners mile by mile and offered us great moments on the race course. Very enjoyable sailing and joy of learning new things set the course of the race, leaving everyone tired but happy after a busy regatta.

Now the boat is already in Helsinki and we are taking a small summer vacation before starting preparations for ORC European Championships in Oxelösund, Sweden 11 – 17 August.

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Zer0emissions from Stockholm to Hanko

by Noora

July 4, 2019

News

Sailracing

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Zer0emission has arrived to Hanko after completing and finishing third in ORCA at Åf Offshore Race. The team was challenged with rough conditions and we are extremely happy about the outcome of the race. The rough beating to the southern end was awarded with a sweet and fast ride to Sandhamn, during witch the boat reached up to 26 knots top speeds.

The race village was visited by more than 200.000 spectators during the Åf Offshore Race week. In the race village environmental issues were a hot discussion and the event organiser KSSS managed to make the environment everyones business. And hey! The word about our mission is starting to spread! Zer0emission was visited by the young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg who has rapidly become the icon of environmental issues with over 22 million followers on instagram.

Hanko Regatta was kicked off today by a press event where Mikko Leppilampi invited everyone to join our quest for cleaner seas. Mikko’s introduction to the subject was followed by mayor Dennis Strandell, who told about the work Hanko is doing to become a carbon neutral city. The sun always shines in Hanko and their 12 solar plants are a good example of the work they are doing to reach the goals.

Team skipper Samuli Leisti also reminded everyone about why we have chosen a TP52 race boat to attend races and raise the awareness of the state of our seas. “It’s good to remember that this is the only season our boat and crew will compete in the Baltic Seas. Next year we will face new challenges in bigger events where our boat is among the smallest boats able to even attend these events that attract millions of followers around the world. We aim to raise as much awareness to the subject as possible and this can only be done by attending the largest sailing events in the world.”

In Hanko we focus on bringing the #raceagainstseapollution to every race participants knowledge. Zer0emission organizes a cleanup challenge on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Every team in the harbor is invited – the team that collects the most garbage will win Zeropoint compression socks for the team members and everyone involved have a chance to win a 300 € voucher to North Sails.

After racing Zer0emission crew will raise awareness of littering by patrolling in the harbor. An aftersail event open to all sailors, Zer0hour is organized daily between 4 and 7 pm at Brasserie Regatta. Finnish actor Mikko Leppilampi will be hosting the event and introducing our mission to the participants. Feel free to drop by and join the discussion and free drinks between 6 and 7 pm.

In Hanko Zer0emission is chartered by a team of woman. These passionate ladies skippered by Anu Syrmä have joined the mission for the love of sea and donated 5 000 euros to support the project. Thank you for the support!

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