Volvo Cleap Up: Lovers of sailing show their love for the ocean
by Nic Douglass 11 Mar 2018 15:44 AEDT
11 March 2018
Volvo Cleap Up: Lovers of sailing show their love for the ocean © Nic Douglass /
www.AdventuresofaSailorGirl.com
I was at Takapuna Beach this morning with a number of people who love sailing, but most importantly - love our oceans and our planet.
Sailors and shore crew from Turn the Tide on Plastic, Vestas 11th Hour Racing, Team AkzoNobel and Brunel Sailing were amongst the crowd, as well as notables from Yachting New Zealand and Australian Sailing.
"There is definitely an agenda to have a sustainable sport for 2020, and 2030" said Matt Allen, President of Australian Sailing. "We are in a unique position because we are using the wind, we are using nature as power, so I think that we can send a really loud message as a sport that we need to protect our oceans".
I was actually shocked at how much glass we found on the beach, but also plastic wrappers, spoons, bottle caps, lollypop sticks, fishing line and nets were strewn along the sand. You can see that even on just one beach we managed to gather quite a bit of rubbish, and I have to say I have personally been aware of the issue all day (I can see rubbish everywhere) - which is what it is all about!
Thanks to Volvo Cars New Zealand for organising the event, and helping to raise awareness and recognition of an issue that we should all have close to our hearts. Whenever you can, do your bit to help create the change that we need to make a difference! Thank you also to Musto Australiasia for their support of my coverage for the Auckland Volvo Ocean Race stopover, and also to Janey Treleaven, my amazing and over qualified #SailorGirl sidekick for this event.
For more adventures check out my website, or head straight to my social channels, @sailorgirlHQ on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.