Atlantic Cup 2016 - a race with an environmental commitment

by Atlantic Cup on 7 Apr 2016 With just under two months until the start of the Atlantic Cup presented by 11th Hour Racing, Manuka Sports Event Management today announced a special evening event celebrating the race and its environmental commitment. Living on the Edge: The Ocean Economy will take place Wednesday, June 1 from 6 p.m.-9 p.m., at the Thomson Reuters building in Midtown Manhattan. Award winning New York Times Investigative Journalist, Ian Urbina, will be the keynote speaker and Ocean Conservancy Senior Policy Advisor, Dr. Sandra Whitehouse, will provide opening remarks at the event.

The first carbon neutral sailing race in the United States, the Atlantic Cup continues to further its mission for the 2016 race by examining the global economic impact of the ocean and how an unhealthy ocean can affect the economy.

“The Living on the Edge event will showcase the health of our ocean and the importance of environmental commitment worldwide,” said Manuka Sports Event Management Founder and Atlantic Cup Race Director, Hugh Piggin. “The ocean is our playground and it is critical we look after it. We are confident this event will not only shed light on the global economic impact the ocean provides, but will also empower those who attend to make informed decisions regarding our planet.”

Urbina, known for his worker safety and environment focused pieces, wrote his newest series, “The Outlaw Ocean,” which explores oppression and lawlessness on the high seas. Urbina has been nominated for and won numerous awards; most recently, his Outlaw Ocean series received a Peter Benchley Ocean Award for Media Excellence, a George Polk Award for Foreign Reporting and was also a finalist for the Scripps Howard Award in the Public Service Reporting.

“It's a real honor to be invited to Living on the Edge,” said Urbina. “Though central to our economy and our survival, our seas do, in my view, really represent that outer edge, and they have long been a place I wanted to explore personally and as a journalist. Two-thirds of the planet is covered by water and much of that space is ungoverned and ungovernable. My goal with The Times' Outlaw Ocean series was to explore that space, and I'm looking forward to recounting some of the darker realities that, unfortunately, I found out there.”

Living on the Edge: The Ocean Economy is presented by the Atlantic Cup and 11th Hour Racing with support from Thomson Reuters. The charitable beneficiary of the event is Ocean Conservancy, a tax-exempt not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. A limited number of tickets will be available to the general public and can be purchased here.

With over 1,000nm of ocean racing, the Atlantic Cup is the longest offshore race in the Western Atlantic and also the U.S.’ only short-handed offshore race dedicated to the Class 40. The race was created and designed to grow the audience for short-handed, offshore racing with hard fought competition and exciting shore based events, while also being the most environmentally sustainable sailing race.

The 2016 race will start in Charleston, S.C., May 28, stop in Brooklyn, N.Y., May 31 – June 4 and culminate in Portland, Maine, June 6-11.