America's Cup: Sustainability at the heart of Sanctioning agreement.
by World Sailing 25 Apr 2023 05:43 PDT
26 April 2023
AC40 - first sailing day accompanied by the team's foiling hydrogen powered chase boat - Inner Hauraki Gulf - Auckland - September 21, 2022 © Emirates Team New Zealand
The 37th America’s Cup has been officially sanctioned as a World Sailing Special Event with sustainability at the heart of the agreement.
As part of the watershed agreement between AC37 Event Ltd and World Sailing there is a joint commitment to sustainability which will focus on investment in local community projects as part of Barcelona’s Blue Economy, as well as work which supports Agenda 2030, World Sailing’s sustainability strategy for the sport.
AC37 Event Ltd instigated investment in Barcelona’s Blue Economy which uses a sustainable development model within the marine sector to create positive economic and social outcomes whilst protecting the region's precious marine ecosystems.
World Sailing and AC37 Event Ltd will also develop the “AC37 Sustainability Charter” which will define the sustainability commitments of the event in line with Agenda 2030.
AC37 Event Ltd CEO Grant Dalton is proud to keep pushing tangible investment in Barcelona’s Blue Economy as well as wider sustainability projects building on the now mandatory requirement for all competing AC37 teams to use zero-emissions hydrogen powered foiling chase boats.
“One of the attractions of Barcelona as the host venue of the 37th America’s Cup was their significant push into developing a circular blue economy which promotes sustainable economic and social development and we have wanted to add real value to this economy and not just participate within it,” said Dalton.
“When we began discussions with World Sailing on sanctioning the America’s Cup as a World Sailing Special Event it was clear that the two organisations were closely aligned in prioritising the investment as a positive contribution to projects in Barcelona’s Blue Economy.”
World Sailing CEO David Graham said, “The collaboration between World Sailing and the 37th America’s Cup will directly benefit specific sustainability projects in Barcelona. World Sailing’s Agenda 2030 - published in 2018 - has put our sport at the forefront of the sector-wide drive for greater sustainability and our partnership with one of the sport’s greatest competitions will make a significant contribution to achieving targets that we have set for ourselves as an organisation and for sailing.”
The World Sailing Special Event status for the 37th America’s Cup incorporates all associated regattas including the America’s Cup Match, the America’s Cup Challenger Selection Series, the America’s Cup Preliminary Regattas and the Youth and Women’s America’s Cup Regattas.
The agreement will also see the establishment of The Racing Rules of Sailing (America’s Cup Edition) which will govern the rules of racing contested across all regattas of the 37th America’s Cup.
World Sailing shall also appoint the International Jury comprising of international umpires appointed to the America’s Cup. It also includes the confirmed appointments of the America’s Cup Arbitration Panel of David Tillett, Graham McKenzie and Bryan Willis, Chief Umpire Richard Slater and Race Management again to be led by Iain Murray as the Principal Race Officer as well as Anti-Doping programme in alignment with the World Anti-Doping Code.