IMOCA publishes its first annual Purpose Report

11th Hour Racing Team at Cape Horn on Leg 3 of The Ocean Race © Amory Ross

The IMOCA Class - the organisation behind one of the fastest and most exciting fleet of monohull racing yachts anywhere in the world - today publishes its first Purpose Report.

This document underpins the Class's ongoing commitment to embed sustainability and social diversity into its sporting activities. It has been created to report in a clear way on progress, and to inspire people and businesses alike to take action, especially towards ocean protection.

Imogen Dinham-Price, Co-Sustainability Manager at IMOCA, said: "The publication of our very first Purpose Report is an important step in our evolution as a sporting and maritime organisation committed to the health of our oceans and planet. This is merely the first of many such steps as we continue to work hard to improve the way we operate in this respect."

"By shaping the regulations and direction of competition in our fleet," Dinham-Price added, "together we will encourage rapid design, development, and delivery of invaluable technologies for the future - particularly in relation to construction, energy autonomy, science and maritime collisions."

IMOCA yachts are the stars of the Vendée Globe solo round-the-world race and The Ocean Race, the legendary crewed round-the-world race with stopovers - the teams will arrive in Newport this week. These all tie into the IMOCA Globe Series of races, which crowns a champion each year.

The Class is based on rules that guarantee sporting fairness, technical innovation and safety to enable our sailors to race in some of the most remote parts of the world's oceans.

IMOCA has a proven history of pioneering technologies and innovations that have made positive contributions to the maritime industry and beyond. These initiatives are all based on the principle that creating a sustainable and relevant sport is central to IMOCA's long-term strategy.

The Purpose Report addresses the IMOCA sustainability strategy that forms the foundation for the next era of Class Rules; these will propel the Class and the sector in which it is active towards sustainable innovation.

One of IMOCA's most high profile recent sustainability initiatives is its "Green Sail Rule" introduced last December. This encourages leading sail-making companies to produce sails for IMOCA yachts using more sustainable energy, avoiding air travel and generating less waste.

This innovation, pioneered by Dinham-Price and her colleague at IMOCA Claire Vayer, has made it to the final of the inaugural Sports for Nature Challenge organised by ThinkSport. The Green Sail Rule is one of 10 finalists which will be reviewed by judges in Lausanne in Switzerland tomorrow (May 9th).

IMOCA 2022 Purpose Report available here.