Andi Robertson

Sustainability in the yachting world is a real buzzword at the moment but frequently bold pledges are not backed up by meaningful action

Though I have to be careful where I go with this, am I alone in reaching saturation point in terms and that is a practical ‘sustainable’ initiative which every regatta and event could be looking to for the future. It was great to see the young, almost all amateur crew on Sunrise win the Rolex Fastnet Race outright. It was of sustainability messages their time. They had already been and propositions arriving third of 112 starters in the Myth of in my inbox from big teams Malham and have done the hard and big, big events? miles in preparation as well as smartly

I have to be careful because, optimising the boat in terms of sails like many others in the sailing so that they would be at the very top media, the sustainability Dollar end of Class 2 so they could push hard – or Euro – is an important part of the modern, forward thinking, ‘I WAS STOKED TO SEE A to be up to their rating and beat tidal gates – or in this case a weather gate. responsible media programme. And so I am a direct recipient of such marketing budgets. YOUNG FEMALE NAVIGATOR SUCCEED IN THE WHITE But to have a crew triumph who are all in their 20s save owner Tom Kneen who is only 36 and pro Dave Swete is

But these programmes are all about the power of sport to effect HOT CLUBSWAN 50 CLASS’ nothing short of inspirational for a whole young generation of offshore positive changes and more often racers. And two of the crew are female than not it seems to me that it is the sport aspect that is in Suzy Peters and Tor Tomlinson. And through the left behind, somewhere after the message that we need RORC’s Griffin committee, of which Tor Tomlinson to do better to look after our oceans and our planet. is the chair and on which Kneen sits, they are intent

I am fed up at the lack of cohesive, joined up on improving RORC’s youth training offering. thinking – some might say hypocrisy – where, for And while Suzy Peters aided and abetted the example, plastic bottles are banned from the media supremely talented Tom Cheney in the nav role on centre and areas of the regatta village, but that Sunrise, meantime in Palma at Copa del Rey I was sustainability policy does not extend to recycling stoked to see a young German female navigator succeed waste on the race dock or in the regatta village, or in the white hot ClubSwan 50 class. any kind of transport and logistics policy. Meantime Lena Weisskichel is just 30 years old and was race a little bright spot on my horizon remains Yachting navigating for her first time ever in the hot seat as a

Gives Back in Palma, a wonderful organisation run by navigator with Kiel owner of NiRaMo, Sonke Meier-

Nick Entwhistle and with really strong support from Sawatzki. He gave the pportunity to the former Laser the Superyacht community there. With the 52 Super Radial who wants to also get back in the 49erFX for an

Series in 2019 when we were last in Puerto Portals Olympic programme. Weisskichel is a bundle of energy we started a little initiative whereby they picked up clearly doing a decent job with NiRaMo finishing the teams’ and organisation’s uneaten food and re- fourth overall. She told me “This is my very first distributed it to those individuals in the city who are event as navigator on any kind of short course inshore in need through the Associaco Tardor, a local NGO. regatta. I had the pleasure of working with the old

That will be happening again this time and navigator Marcel Korte who was navigating last season our intention is to try and encourage the other during the training days, that was awesome because

Palma events to follow the same initiative. I could learn so much on this steep learning curve.

Most people won’t give it a second thought but “The whole team are so patient when I

Palma has many, many more homeless people now as am doing small mistakes which happens a direct effect of the pandemic – the tourism industry when you are still learning. employs thousands of individuals and that industry “It is great to be around these guys who was devastated last year – and the level of need has have so much knowledge.” She did the mixed multiplied significantly. And while the level of support ANDI ROBERTSON offshore keelboat last year when the discipline from the industry there has been fantastic, that An offshore sailing expert, few people was going to be in the Olympics on the L30 and agency has three hostels now and a food bank, and can match Andi’s Dehler 30: “I liked the role doing the work on the industry is very supportive. What was great with insight into the big boat world, both in the chart and the looking at the numbers. That the 52 Super Series was the awareness that it created the UK and globally was the first time I did that and enjoyed it.”