52 SUPER SERIES Saint-Tropez Sailing Week – DAY 2
Sustainability
Embrace Sustainability.
Increase Awareness.
Change the World.
About
It is about saving what we love for our shared future
The 52 SUPER SERIES is recognised as the world’s leading grand-prix monohull racing circuit. Almost since it started in 2012 we have been among the leading pioneers embracing and promoting sustainability, highlighting the acute need to save what we love…..to better care for our oceans.
We need to do more. The playground we need to protect is unique. In our case it’s our actual field of play – and even just through observation over the years – we witness pollution and the deeply worrying local effects of climate change. But at the same time the whole, wide oceans are the lungs of our living, breathing planet. And we all share a responsibility to do better, reducing or eliminating what we put into the ocean.
Since the 2022 season, we’ve expanded our focus beyond sailing, partnering with Kick Out Plastic to use the power of sport to reach a broader audience. And from 2025 onwards we have really homed in on collaborating with ambassadors who actually share our vision, who witness every day the fragility of the ecosystem in which they pursue their sport, their passion in…..mountains, oceans, beaches, trails, lakes, rivers.
Working together we know sport is proven to share common values, it is a great vehicle to educate, to inspire, to motivate. Increasingly it embraces diversity and caring and kindness, advancing shared ideals, knowing grass roots sport helps build self respect and self discipline. For sure Kick Out Plastic is about more than just eliminating plastic.
This season we welcome eSpring, a growing global brand which really has revolutionised our ability to supply fresh, filtered perfect drinking water for all at our events. Their technology is top tier, is favoured in widescale domestic fresh, clean drinking water supplies and eSpring have built our own purpose built system which is super efficient.
We are rightly proud of our successes because they create an impactful legacy and influence positive change all the way through our sport and beyond. Re allocating unused regatta food each day has grown from a local initiative in Palma, Mallorca to become a daily occurrence at almost all of our events around the world. There we work with Yachting Gives Back but we now have ties with many similar projects wherever, but this is a simple initiative which can and should be adopted by events and yacht clubs around the world.
Similarly seeing how the venues we visit evolve to embrace and champion our sustainability good practices to the point they in turn influence much wider communities is also gratifying. An example is Puerto Portals, Mallorca. Recognising how they have transitioned through their yearly interaction with the 52 SUPER SERIES’ sustainability goals and requirements, to now become a leading influencer in the marina and ports industry and in Balearic tourism, they were recognised with 2024’s XS Green Team Sustainable Game Changers Award.
Progress
Our Operational Impact assessment continues to reflect positive progress.
Each year our Operational Impact assessment continues to reflect positive progress.
At each venue, we’re committed to tangible action. Our initiatives range from beach clean-ups in collaboration with local sailing communities and/or schools, to underwater clean-ups, safeguarding marine ecosystems and the seafloor. Through educational programs and speeches, we educate and inspire the next generation
Additionally, we look to create connections and collaborations with local, national and international NGO´s which can help us with our efforts in sustainability. By partnering with organizations that share the same commitments, we can enhance our impact and drive positive change both on and off the water at each venue.
With over 115,000 litres of purified water provided during the last 10 years that means we’ve eliminated the need for nearly 220,000 plastic bottles.
By embracing reusable bottles and prioritizing sustainability, we’ve embedded a culture of environmental responsibility all the way through the 52 SUPER SERIES ecosystem and beyond.
As strict, consistent recycling policy means the 52 SUPER SERIES always leaves venues and towns in a cleaner state, better informed and more motivated for the future. A positive, lasting legacy is always what the 52 SUPER SERIES seeks to make.
With Mark Set Bot, the circuit integrates robot laid marker buoys, which with its course-setting technology makes race management simple, accurate and much more sustainable as it reduces the reliance on RIBs to lay marks.
As a Platinum Level Clean Regatta we are a beacon for change, for pragmatic, practical solutions which can be applied to sailing and sporting events big and small. Together with our partners and stakeholders, we’re creating and publicising a pathway to a less impactful future and reversing many of the small, individual choices and decisions which together have creating our climate crisis.
Results
of our Sustainability Journey
The litres of purified drinking water to sailors and passers-by, filtered by the Bluewater water station.
Number of Plastic Water Bottles substituted and so not utilised
Waste Diverted from Landfill
Kilograms of Trash Collected at Beach Clean Ups
Number of people fed from unused food pick up
Kilograms of Food Leftovers Collected
More
Our Mission
It is the collective mission of the 52 SUPER SERIES to:
- Implement and encourage environmentally responsible actions and initiatives from management to participants.
- Follow, adopt and promote local recycling guidelines.
- Strive to reduce waste of all types, adopt a sustainable procurement code, choose environmentally friendly products, upcycle and repurpose where possible.
- Progressively reduce its environmental footprint via practical and meaningful steps.
At any one regatta, the 52 SUPER SERIES brings together 400 people – a mixture of staff and sailors – to one location for a full week of high performance sailing.
Since way back in 2015 the 52 SUPER SERIES has been commited to introduce new initiatives to change the way that staff, sailors, marinas and yacht clubs would interact with the environment whilst on-site. This conscious shift in thinking has been steadily refined to the point that sustainability is a key part of the 52 SUPER SERIES.
We especially focus on the water supply, waste policies, food provision, fuel usage, materials and transport.
The full list of policies and initiatives employed by the sustainability team is a long one, and one that penetrates every level of the organisation. An obvious but valued success to date has been the complete removal of single-use plastic bottles from the event. The acquisition of a BlueWater water filtration system and the provision of reusable aluminium water bottles has, in one move negates the use of what otherwise could be up to 30,000 single-use water bottles from circulation each year.
In addition to this, the 52 SUPER SERIES has:
- Achieved ISO 20121 certification in sustainable event management
- Offset the total carbon footprint of all event operations (flights, electricity, water and fuel)
- Collected well over 950kg of discarded waste from beaches across the Mediterranean with the help of young people
- Appointed Sustainability Ambassadors from each of the participating teams
- Removed plastic packaging from staff lunched
- Placed a high maxim on media exposure and sustainability messaging, reaching 13.5 million people in 2022
- Promoted the use of eco-friendly boat cleaning products
- Operated shuttle bus services to reduce the amount of wasted fuel
- Provided oil spill kits for teams
- Organised cycling events to promote sustainable transport
- Integrated sustainable practices into everything they do and buy, from only printing on 100%-recyclable paper to reusing event signage and cable ties.
- Redistributed unused fresh food at end of each regatta day
- The Rolex TP52 World Championship Cascais 2022 achieved the highest Clean Regattas sustainability award ever to be presented in Portugal by Sailors For The Sea Portugal.
- And much, much more!
What you can do?
oin us in the battle against single use plastics and help us to protect the oceans.
Follow the instructions given in our sustainability survival guide below, to adapt to a more sustainable way of life.
We strongly feel, that it is time to take action and turn the tide on plastic. If you agree and would like to support this great initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme, please take the United Nations #CleanSeas pledge.
You can commit and take the #CleanSeas pledge as an individual, an organisation, a company or NGO.
The UN Environment #CleanSeas campaign aims to engage governments, the general public, civil society, and the private sector in the fight against marine plastic pollution. Over the next five years, this campaign aims to address the root-cause of marine litter by targeting the production and consumption of single-use plastic.
If you are looking for additional resources, which will be helping you with changing your daily routines, in order to protect the oceans, please visit:
- #CleanSeas Campaign, UN Environment campaign providing great resources and assets
- OceanChangemakers, an NGO providing a collection of tools and resources to empower individuals and communities to combat ocean plastic locally and globally
- Ocean Conservancy, an NGO which focusses on protecting the oceans
- The GreenBlue, joint environment programme created by the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine
- Good Fish Guide, a source providing information about sustainable seafood
- Plastic Pollution Resources, guides, videos, infographics and reports featured on this page are intended to inform and enable organizations and individuals alike in their efforts to advance actions that prevent plastic pollution and encourage solutions for a healthy ocean
- Marine Debris Program, the NOAA Marine Debris Program is the U.S. Federal government’s lead for addressing marine debris
Always keep in mind, that there is no PLANet B.
Downloads
Infographics
Documents
Latest Sustainability News
Partners
Official Sustainability Partner
Sustainability Partners
The 52 SUPER SERIES is a member of
