Clean Sailors podcast

When it comes to sustainability, sailing and marine has faced scrutiny like most other industries, notably on the topic of end-of-life materials.

Since 1996, Quantum Sails has been working on sail design, technology and production, now with more than 60 sail lofts around the world.

Tune in to hear Lara Poljšak, Director of Sustainability at Quantum Sails discuss the progress and obstacles in being a sustainable sailmaker today.

We've explored the changing Arctic in a couple of our our Clean Sailors podcasts to date, but what about Antarctica and the Southern Ocean; what is it like and how is it changing?

There is no other sailor to ask than Skip Novak - from Antarctica, Patagonia, South Georgia, the Northwest passage, Falklands, Atlantic, Pacific to the South Sandwich Islands, Svalbard, Spitsbergen: you name it, Skip has sailed it, and has sailed the most sea miles of any other sailor, alive or dead.

Tune in to this episode to hear more on Skip's lifetime of sailing and, importantly, how the southern-most, at times most-formidable region of our planet, Antarctica, has been shifting.

The marine industry, and superyachting in particular, is renowned for cultivating exceptional skills and high standards. In this episode, Holly sits down with Sam Stewart, founder of the Relief Crew Foundation. After a successful career in superyachting himself, Sam began bridging the gap between skilled yacht crews and impactful humanitarian and environmental projects around the globe.

Discover how a life-changing experience inspired Sam to create incredible opportunities for sailors and superyacht professionals to give back with purpose.

Doyle Sails is one of the most competitive sailmakers on the planet. With the likes of SailGP as one of the main classes they serve, it's fair to say they've got some of the coolest clients and coolest technology around.

How are the team addressing sailmaking in our modern world, in view of sustainability?

In this multi-million dollar market, what are the stakes as new rules and regulations slowly arrive regarding end-of-life?

Tune in to hear Harri Wren, Global Operations and Brand Manager talk us through sustainability at Doyle Sails.

What happens to Royal Navy liferafts after they’re retired?

This episode explores their surprising second life and a mission to keep them out of landfill.

Tune in as we speak with Bob Field of the Royal Navy & Royal Marines Charity and professional sailmaker, Pablo Madrid, about their unique collaboration to transform decommissioned liferafts into something new — making waves in their industries as they go.

Like most things sailing, our kit has undergone massive transformation over the centuries, evolving from heavy, water absorbent natural fabrics like wool and canvas and leather to today's lightweight, high-tech synthetic materials designed ultimately for waterproofing performance and comfort. But at what cost?

Our highly engineered, highly advanced laminated and membrane fabrics do undergo intense waterproofing processes to become such, and as a result, over the years have contained plenty of forever chemicals like PFC's, perfluorochemicals.

So how can we be thinking about high performance and sustainability in our modern kit? Podcast host, Holly, is joined by two pros of Team Henri-Lloyd to find out.

Solo sailor, Ella Hibbert, spent this Summer preparing herself and her boat for her upcoming non-stop single-handed circumnavigation of the Arctic Circle; a world-first.

But in Ella's own words, 'this is not a record attempt, it’s a wake-up call’.

Not only is Ella incredibly seaworthy, experienced and capable of such an adventure, it's the first time in history that Arctic Sea ice has receded enough to make these circumnavigations possible...

Tune in to hear how Ella's shakedown sailing went and what she learnt about herself, her boat and observations on our changing climate, from the Solent to Svalbard.

Based in Brussels, European Boating Industry represents the European leisure marine industry in Europe.

Over 6 million boats are kept in European waters, and we’ve over 10,000 marinas - the industry is HUGE.

As Secretary General, Philip Easthill is responsible for running the show

So what do they stand for and what are their current priorities?

Let’s find out!

Sails.

There are millions of them in circulation on our planet, and just as many heading into landfill each year.

Currently, there aren’t any formal recycling schemes to be found anywhere in the world, but many small organisations are working with sail material to make new things. Whilst these efforts are noble, it’s clear this isn’t the long-term sustainable opportunity - environmentally or economically, and legislation is now rapidly changing.

In this episode, Dr. Joe Penhaul Smith and Sam Penhaul; one scientist and one sailor, discuss the chemistry of sail material and their efforts towards recycling sails, in the most direct meaning of the term ‘recycle’.

So far, the 'clean' in Clean Sailors has meant challenging ourselves and the sailing marine industry to become more environmentally aware and sound.

For this podcast, we are looking at ‘clean’ from another perspective...

Food at sea is very much fuel and certainly morale - hot, filling, long-burn energy loaded and as quick as possible to cook. When racing, well, let’s talk freeze-dried bags and a kettle of hot water!

But how can we become more nutritious at sea, and how can we satisfy all the above, without relying on bowls of pasta, tinned beans and in the extreme cases the Pot Noodle…?

Tune in to hear sailor, nutritionist and coach, Sarah Powell, on clean cooking and eating on a boat.