Nominations now open for 2022 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award

11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award nominations open © World Sailing

Nominations are now open for this year's World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award, the fifth edition of the highest recognition of success in marine sustainability.

The closing date for submissions is September 2. Submissions will be assessed by an expert panel of judges chaired by World Sailing Head of Sustainability Alexandra Rickham and four finalists will be announced on September 22.

From these finalists, a public vote will help decide the winner which will be announced at the 2022 World Sailing Awards on 25 October 2022, held at the World Sailing Annual Conference in Abu Dhabi. Winners will receive a $10,000 USD prize to further their sustainability programme.

See the for the 2022 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award nomination form.

Rickham, a sustainability expert and a Paralympic medallist, said, "The World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award has become the most influential voice for the sport's commitment to the people that work, play and live with the ocean. Each year, the quality and variety of submissions shows just how dedicated the sailing community is to promoting sustainability, both social and environmental, within the sport and has highlighted how everyone within sailing can make a difference.

"Last year we received a record number of entries and many of the submissions have been successfully replicated in some form around the world. In line with World Sailing's own Sustainability Agenda 2030, we encourage sailing organisations everywhere to share their achievements and submit their project so that the community can be inspired and further our mission to promote sustainability in every activity, event and initiative we're involved in."

Alessandra Ghezzi, communications director at 11th Hour Racing, said, "It's always an exciting time when the nominations open for the World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award - there is a real opportunity to create change by applying local solutions to global problems. This initiative, which we have sponsored since its inception in 2018, helps create new collaborations, develop ideas into real projects, and advance sailing's contribution to global sustainability. We strongly encourage participation from all who are eligible - because all of you can be the change that is so much needed in our world today."

Launched in 2018, the award celebrates the delivery of high-impact, highly replicable sustainability initiatives aligned with the World Sailing Sustainability Agenda 2030. World Sailing and 11th Hour Racing encourage entries from individual sailors, sailing clubs, events, classes, federations, and the wider marine industry, no matter how big or small their programme or initiative may be. Past winners of the award have all demonstrated a commitment to reducing their environmental impact and raising awareness around conservation.

Past winners of the World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Awards

• Corpus Christi Yacht Club (CCYC) won the inaugural award in 2018 following the successful delivery of the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships. Driven by the dedication of the CCYC volunteer Green Team, the Youth Worlds was the first World Sailing Championship with a focus on ocean conservation and sustainability.
• The following year, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) / The Green Blue won the 2019 award for its efforts to empower boaters in the United Kingdom to take action on sustainability through providing clear training and guidance on key issues.
• Starboard were named winners of the 2020 World Sailing 11th Hour Racing Sustainability Award for its Plastic Offset Program, reclaiming 1.1kg of plastic for every board produced. Starboard reduces its carbon emissions and compensates for unavoidable carbon emissions by planting mangrove trees 10 times over for every single board. World Sailing created a case study on Starboard's efforts to inspire action around the world.
• In 2021, Sail Africa Youth Development Foundation received the award for increasing participation of ethnically diverse and female sailors in Durban, South Africa. In the time since launching, the number of girls racing has increased, and podium positions have improved year on year, making sailing a much more multicultural sport. The programme has doubled as a life skills initiative, ensuring positive sustainable outcomes around alleviating poverty, reducing inequality, developing education, and creating environmental awareness