Partners committed to La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe

Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe © Arnaud Pilpré

Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe organisers OC Sport Pen Duick are committed to a strong Corporate Social Responsibility approach and correspondingly have sought the support of partners whose areas of expertise provide real, pragmatic solutions and initiatives which support the complementary aims and philosophies of the event, the organisers and the stakeholders.

All of the main actors are committed to expanding and cementing a pathway of sustainable development. SNCF Group, 11th Hour Racing, Carbone 4, StadiumGO, TerraTerre and Toovalu are these key partners and providers of change.

By train or carpooling: enhanced alternative solutions for coming to Saint-Malo

To come to enjoy the popular festival and the unique spectacle that is provided with 138 competing boats, their skippers and teams that are present there are many greener solutions. One the main ones is to use the transport offered by the SNCF Group, Official Supplier: " Becoming an Official Supplier seemed obvious to the SNCF Group, which shares common values with sailing in terms of sustainable development, both in its environmental and social dimensions," says Magali Euverte, SNCF Group Regional Coordinator in Brittany. "This partnership perfectly embodies our purpose in the territories: to act for a society in motion, united and sustainable. Mobility is at the heart of our daily lives, choosing the train means acting for the environment since it is the means of public transport that emits the least CO2. The train is therefore THE most suitable solution for joining this beautiful event". Or by StadiumGO, the carpooling platform specific to sporting events, which are Technical Supplier. Romain Lauvergnat, Founder & CEO of StadiumGO says, "By moving our offering into new sports, StadiumGO continues to move towards its mission of reducing the carbon footprint of spectator travel. The Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe is one of those big major events that attract a massive crowd, so it seemed essential to us to be able to join in the CSR approach of the event by promoting a smoother mobility for all the public going to on the event! "

"Measure the carbon footprint and make the carbon offset."

Reducing the carbon impact is a key objective desired by the organizers. To take the true measure of this reduction, it is necessary above all to carry out an objective evaluation. As a Technical Supplier, Carbone 4 has made this its specialty: "Carbone 4, via its branch in Rennes, is setting up in the west of France to serve its economic players, explains Hélène Chauviré, Manager at Carbone 4. "We help our customers to reduce their climate footprint and biodiversity on the one hand, and to prepare for transitions to increase their resilience on the other. For La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe, Carbone 4 supports OC Sport Pen Duick in estimating the carbon footprint of the event, with the aim of understanding how to reduce the impacts of future editions. The event approach sheds new light on the subject of low-carbon mobility in a sailing event and questions the way to organize leisure or high-competition activities in a low-carbon world".

To achieve this assessment, Toovalu, Technical Supplier, makes its climate & CSR strategy management software solution available. "By nature, offshore racing is intimately linked to the protection of the environment and the oceans, comments Marie Gaborit, Director of Toovalu. For several years, many skippers have been committed to preserving their playground and the planet. In this dynamic, Toovalu accompanies La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe in its approach to reducing its carbon footprint in order to integrate climate issues and their impacts at the heart of the event. This unmissable ocean sailing event shows the path to take, that of decarbonization and action. We are delighted to be committed alongside this offshore race to disseminate its approach to all, partners and participants".

To complete this assessment, a carbon offset program is carried out, on the advice of TerraTerre, Technical Supplier. "This year, La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe has asked TerraTerre to contribute to its carbon emissions by financing the agricultural transition of a farm 40 km from Saint-Malo," explains Mathieu Toulemonde - CEO TerraTerre. "Carbone 4 and Toovalu support OC Sport Pen Duick on the implementation of a low carbon strategy, and to complete the process, an action to contribute to territorial carbon neutrality has been set up with TerraTerre. We are very happy to support La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe in this process. Moreover, visitors to the village of La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe have the possibility of "offsetting" the emissions due to their visit by participating in the financing of the transition of another farm near Saint Malo to the stand".

Aware of the fact that events such as La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe must, in the future, pave the way for even more sustainable, environmentally responsible events, OC Sport Pen Duick and the stakeholders of the race for this 2022 edition wished to lay the foundations of a sustainable future. To achieve this, the organizer works with partners who work for a better future and make it their expertise today. In this sense, the Official Emeraude Solaire Supplier provides the race with: "Charging stations for visitors' electric vehicles. There are still few in Saint-Malo and we want to facilitate access to the site for fans of this soft mobility. We have also set up a mobile hydrogen battery to supply the "paddock" of the competitors' technical teams. We also have a 25 m2 stand in the village, the roof of which is entirely covered with photovoltaic panels connected to the village's electricity supply box. Finally, we have installed a cabinet on our stand that will allow visitors to charge their laptops with solar energy. explains Xavier Borel, CEO of Emeraude Solaire.

But this revolution will not happen without those for whom these offshore races are organised: the sailors. Official Supplier, 11th Hour Racing has been responsible for mobilizing the ocean racing community for several years. "11th Hour Racing is delighted to support La Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe as an Official Supplier with key initiatives to develop its sustainability program," said Todd McGuire, Managing Director of 11th Hour Racing. "Our job is to induce behavioral change that benefits the ocean. Our support will provide concrete solutions to reduce the environmental impact of the event and highlight examples of simple behavioral changes that people can incorporate into their daily lives".