Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe announce Ocean as Common as Sustainability Partner

by Route du Rhum 24 Sep 10:15 PDT 4 November 2018

Organisers of the Route du Rhum–Destination Guadeloupe OC Sport Pen Duick, have announced Ocean as Common, a new appeal that aims to raise awareness and protect our oceans, as the Official Sustainability Partner to the 2018 edition of the race.

The Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe charts a 3,542-nautical mile course from Saint-Malo in Brittany to Pointe-A-Pitre on the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe and is considered a classic race in solo ocean sailing. A record breaking 124 skippers will set sail on November 4th, and with over two million spectators expected in the race village in Saint Malo, the race is a powerful platform to raise awareness around the issues relating to ocean health.

Created by Catherine Chabaud, a well-known French offshore sailor and Vendée Globe finisher, Ocean as Common is a call to arms to recognise the Ocean as the 'Common Good of Humanity'. That is, we all share the responsibility for its sustainable management and future. Already a partner to the IMOCA class, Ocean as Common will work with the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe race organisers and partners to raise awareness of this shared responsibility.

Chabaud commented: "The Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe is the first big event for our Call, made possible thanks to OC Sport Pen Duick. We hope to reach many people and gather a lot of additional support, but also to value the associations supported by the skippers and the actions carried out which already hold the ocean for a common good."

"To recognize the ocean as a common good of humanity is to recognize that it is the 'thing of all' and that we all share the responsibility for its sustainable management and its future. It is the voice of each one of us and of each community - citizens, participants, partners, local communities - that this campaign wishes to reach and accompany in the big Forum of discussion".

Hervé Favre, Co-CEO of race owners OC Sport Pen Duick, said: "For four decades, professional or amateur sailors competing in the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe have shared the same playground, and today, this ocean that they know so well has become more and more threatened. The challenge is enormous and this partnership will enable us to raise awareness of an issue that is close everyone involved in the race, from the skippers, to the partners and the fans.

"We are delighted that Ocean as Common have joined the Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe as an official partner and that we can use the race as a vehicle to promote the 'Ocean, the common good of humanity' message."

The Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe race villages will become a major focus for the sustainability programme, where Ocean as Common will use the opportunity to educate the public about the cause and collect more support for the appeal.

Another key pillar of the programme with be a day of conferences hosted by Catherine Chabaud and bringing together experts from science and the skippers to ask them to commit to the appeal.

And on the water, Frenchman Jean-Marie Patier who will be racing in the amateur Rhum Mono class onboard Formatives Network, will carry the Ocean as Common values across the Atlantic as an ambassador of the campaign.

In addition to this, other contributors will come together to take action, maximise impact and provide inspiration, contributing towards a positive legacy for the future health of our oceans. These include:

• Plastic reduction on site at the race villages with Esprit Planète.
  
• Carbon footprint measurement with EcoAct.
  
• Reduction of our environmental footprint with ReforestAction.
  
• The collection of cigarette butts with the Banque Populaire Grand Ouest, CYPAO and MéGO.
  
• Waste management with the city of Saint-Malo.
  
• The creation of educational kits for schools to raise awareness of respect for the oceans.

Favre commented: "As a company, OC Sport operate on the oceans, in the mountains and in city centres, always immersed by the natural world. We believe our events could be powerful and unique platforms to explore the issues and solutions that can have a positive impact upon our oceans health, and over the coming moths, we will be working hard to build on these first steps of the Route du Rhum-Destiation Guadeloupe, by creating a company sustainability charter, so we take responsibility and act."

Ocean as Common, which was launched on the 8th June during World Ocean Day, was signed in to the Paris Climate Agreement, and will be presented to the United Nations during negotiations on the status of the "High Seas" to better protect and use its resources sustainably. Find out more about Ocean as Common and join the appeal at oceanascommon.org.