Sustainability

Name an Onboard Environmental Steward

One of the six major initiatives and activities of the Bermuda Race Foundation is to educate participants about environmental stewardship and to implement programs to make the classic event environmentally sustainable.

The 2022 race cycle saw skippers and crew managers task a member of their crew to be the onboard “environmental steward.” Some fifty sailors were designated to this important position to help plan, provision and execute the race with the ocean in mind. Our goal for the 2024 race is to double the number of e-stewards to help advance the best practices outlined by Sailors for the Sea and their Clean Regatta program. 

The entry management system allows skippers or crew managers to take this step. Once a crew member accepts an invitation to join the race, the skipper or crew manager can assign crew functions such as Watch Captain, Navigator or Environmental Steward. More than one e-steward can be tasked for this function.   

The Newport Bermuda Race Sustainability Report from 2022 documents many of the best practices executed by Bermuda Race sailors, vendors and sponsors. We encourage you to view the report and image ways you can aid this effort. 

The hundreds of sailors who race in the “Thrash to the Onion Patch” are a unique collection of adventurers from a variety of backgrounds, ages, education, and professional pursuits. They represent an enormous resource of talent that can be leveraged to tackle environmental challenges. This year the Bermuda Race starting line event at Fort Adams gives us an opportunity to engage with the wider community on these important subjects and practices.  

The Bermuda Race Organizing Committee (BROC) backed by the Bermuda Race Foundation are committed to sustaining this classic, biennial ocean race long into the future. Each running of the race provides an opportunity to improve our environmental footprint. We welcome this challenge and ask the cooperation of all competitors, support personnel and vendors in reducing waste before, during, and at the conclusion of the race.