Team AUS SailGP partners with Parley for the Oceans
by Team AUS SailGP 16 Jul 2021 09:01 AEST
Australia SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby practicing on the water ahead of Great Britain SailGP, Event 3, Season 2 in Plymouth, Great Britain 14 July © Thomas Lovelock for SailGP
Slingsby’s Australian SailGP Team Racing for the Ocean in New Purpose Partnership with Parley for the Oceans. Tom Slingsby’s Australian SailGP Team has joined the fight against marine plastic pollution, partnering with global movement Parley for the Oceans as its official Race For The Future Partner, in a multi-season deal.
Parley For the Oceans is an environmental organisation where creators, thinkers and leaders raise awareness for the beauty and fragility of the oceans, take action against major marine threats, and explore new ways of thinking and living on our finite, blue planet. As part of SailGP’s Race for the Future purpose-led agenda, the partnership will aim to raise awareness of the issues faced by the ocean and inspire action, harnessing the power of sport to do so.
As part of SailGP’s purpose agenda each SailGP team identified their purpose beyond sailing and goals they wanted to achieve. They then looked to secure the right partner who aligned with their vision. For the Australia Team and its sailors, that was a genuine desire to create a greener future, with their love of the water driving their efforts to preserve the ocean for generations to come.
“Our team is passionate about leaving a positive impact that extends beyond sailing to protecting the Australian way of life,” Australia Driver and CEO Tom Slingsby said. “With the ocean integral to our sport, we have a responsibility to give back to the surroundings that make our sport possible.”
As part of the partnership, the Australia Team and Parley will host Parley Talks across the globe at several SailGP events, including the Australia Sail Grand Prix in Sydney this December. The talks will take an immersive approach to environmental education, to inspire marine conservation with the next generation of leaders. The first Parley Talk took place this week at Plymouth ahead of the Great Britain Grand Prix, with the Australian Team.
Slingsby commented saying, “We have an opportunity to use our platform to not only educate and inspire a generation of environmental advocates, but also to work with an incredible world-renowned partner in Parley that can help put our vision of a greener future into action”.
Parley will also collaborate with the Australia Team on their Impact League – a world-first, integrated initiative designed to make sustainability action essential to the fabric of sport and to accelerate the transition to clean energy, in order to help mitigate climate change.
Throughout SailGP’s second season, spanning 2021-22, a second leaderboard will be created and the eight international teams – that take part in the most exciting race on-water – will be rewarded for the positive actions they make to reduce their overall carbon footprint and help accelerate inclusivity in sailing. Parley will support and advise the team on the Impact League, helping them to maximise their efforts, ensuring genuine systematic change with its approach led by collaboration and eco-innovation, and through the Parley AIR Strategy: Avoid, Intercept, Redesign.
Commenting on the partnership Cyrill Gutsch CEO & Founder of Parley said: “SailGP has lived up to its promise of taking big, bold steps towards championing a world powered by nature. We’re excited to see what they have in store next following some hefty commitments like their initial goal of winning the race to zero carbon, to powering and shifting from technologies based on fossil fuels to 100 per cent renewable power by 2025. We see them as not just a supporter of Parley, but a true collaborator and change maker.
“Through this partnership, we’re excited to bring some of the biggest threats facing our oceans to a global audience while also demonstrating the role we can play in being a part of the solution. Sport really does have the power to make a change and through the power of community, education and activism and with partners such as SailGP Australia, we can turn the oceans' cause into a truly global movement as it should be.”
The Australia Team will compete this weekend at the Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Plymouth, the third event in SailGP’s second season. SailGP recently announced the Australia Sail Grand Prix as the ninth event in the global championship’s second season calendar. SailGP will return to the iconic Sydney Harbour on December 17 and 18, 2021, following the European stage of Season 2. After Sydney, SailGP will head to New Zealand for the first time ever in January 2022, followed by San Francisco, which will host the Grand Final on March 26-27, where the champion of Season 2 will be determined in a single $1 million winner-takes-all final.
Tickets for fan experiences at the Sydney Sail Grand Prix will go on sale in August. Visit here for more information.