The 1st International Congress of Ocean Sailing and the Marine Environment leaves behind some important reflections

The three days of the 1st International Congress of Ocean Sailing and the Marine Environment provided some very positive results for its organisers. There were over five hundred people registered and hundreds of ideas invited followers to think about the future of offshore sailing, and above all about the medium in which the sport is practiced: the ocean.

Víctor Montero, the Congress Commissioner, described his satisfaction with the results from the event, held in conjunction with the start of the Barcelona World Race: “We are very happy with how the Congress was received, and even more so with the quality of debate throughout the event. There were very interesting conclusions drawn from the three main axes. All of the delegates and guests agreed on the importance of the three central axes; the recycling of boats and their components,  avoiding the invasion of the marine animal environment by avoiding, for example, collisions with whales, especially in their migration period and on the problem of climate change. This isn't just a long term problem. We are seeing the effects now and it is a race against time. The planet is asking us to act now”.

Following the presentations made on Day 1, including a homage to Eric Tabarly, the second day was divided into two sections. The morning session saw the yacht itself taking centre stage, whilst the afternoon sessions were set aside for sailors. The first of these two subjects welcomed five speakers: designer Guillaume Verdier, boatbuilder Eric Goetz, sailmaker Toni Tió, composites expert Paolo Manganelli and the Green Marine representative Adrian Gillit.
 

The boat

Guillaume Verdier: “The design process of an IMOCA Open 60 is the first phase of the build. The importance of the process lies in the structural study of the model in order to obtain the best reliability versus performance ratio. Beyond that technical calculation, we are seeing more and more that the design process of an IMOCA Open 60 must be an interactive process, where all the different parts that contribute to the life of the yacht also contribute to the design. Everyone can bring their knowledge to the table to come up with a good design”.

Toni Tió: “The process of designing and manufacturing the sails is divided up into different stages. First the sails must be measured up according to the rigging. They must then be studied based on the wind flow, deformations and effort that they will undergo. These two steps are repeated until the optimum distribution of force and wind flow is found. After that, the manufacturing begins. At North Sails we have developed a system called 3Di, which hasn't yet been sold on a grand commercial scale. It is different to the 3DL system (used up until now) in terms of the fibres used and the assembly process of the layers which make up the sail. 3Di sails offer a 15% reduction in weight and better efficiency”.

Paolo Manganelli: “The materials used in hull construction have progressed considerably in recent years. A boat which in 1985 had a displacement of 13 tonnes, built with today's materials that figure would be reduced to 8.3 tonnes. That weight reduction is accompanied by an increase in resistance. These improvements have been possible thanks to the use of new components and structures (such as hexagonal structures which imitate beehives). The trend is holding strong and it is forecasted that we will continue to discover new stronger and lighter materials in the next few years. Recent lines of investigation have revealed that nano-materials could be the answer. With these, long term we might be able to talk about 'intelligent' hulls, able to detect and inform on structural damage to the yacht and even to store energy in the hull of the boat itself”.

Adrian Gillit: “Energy consumption and the ecological footprint in boatbuilding is a growing concern in the sector. The energy consumption for a new build is currently 196MWh in terms of the materials used and 136MWh in terms of the energy used at production. That's a total of 332MWh, which signifies a considerable environmental impact. The construction of an IMOCA Open 60 also generates 190 tonnes of CO2 and 2,500 kg of waste (currently not treated). Green Marine is committed to reducing this energy consumption and to recycling the waste generated by building the new boats. The measures that we are thinking of putting into place over the next few years to achieve this objective consist of using more efficient ovens (perhaps using gas), recycling materials and using natural fibres for some of the non-structural parts of the yacht”.

Eric Goetz: “Currently, the construction process for a racing yacht is not a sustainable one. It's not just the construction, but the entire lifespan of the yacht. That's why it is necessary to put different systems in place for the future. The development of a more responsible construction process from an ecological point of view, The reduction of the quantity of waste generated during construction. The use of more ecological materials. The implementation of more energy efficient construction processes. The use of more specific composites according to the use and location of implementation in the hull. To become able to recycle the waste generated in the construction process. To recycle yachts once their life cycle has come to an end. Closing the life cycle of a yacht is both important and necessary”.

The sailor

The evening session on the 29th December was set aside for the sailors. Speakers were Philippe Jeantot, Loïck Peyron, Marc Guillemot and meteorologist Jean-Yves Bernot. The global conclusion from the four speakers was that it is very important that the sailor has a good academic education, human education, meteorological knowledge, communications, instruments and safety knowledge.

Academic education: to be good crew or a good skipper on a racing yacht, a university degree is not necessary, but sailors must learn quickly and make intelligent decisions.

Human education: after the first week of sailing, tiredness begins to kick in, and that means that knowledge and decision-making take more of a back seat and self control and personal motivation are key.

Weather knowledge: in the last 20 years we have gone from having basic weather maps with isobars and fronts to maps generated my numeric models forecasting wind, rain, waves etc. at any point in the planet. This information is incorporated into computer route-planning programmes, but the ability to decide how much faith to put in the numeric forecasts and to introduce corrections to indicate deviations from them, to push them forward or back, or to reduce or amplify their real effects according to the perceptions of the real situation experienced at sea.

Knowledge of instruments: racing yachts depend much on different navigational equipment. Among them are autopilots, which steer the boat some 80% of the time. The autopilots are increasingly sophisticated, and are able to change the course of the boat by following the shifts in wind force or direction, to avoid the boat listing or losing speed. But drivers must be trained onboard, so that they can learn how the boat reacts to their instructions at the helm, so that they can give orders at the right moment, even anticipating dangerous situations.

Knowledge of communications: in the first Vendée Globes, the boats left port and reached the next one some weeks later, having had no communication with the race organisers in between. Nowadays, the situation is almost completely the opposite; there is an excess of information, although teams tend to limit information to 1.5 or 3 hours a day, split into three sections throughout the day.

Safety knowledge: it is very important that sailors are familiar with strategies to avoid extreme situations, because when a boat is designed it is impossible to plan for it to support 100% of extreme situations. So, the ability to avoid them and to avoid boat damage is left in the hands of the sailors. The boat is not designed to be unbreakable. The sailors must learn how to right the boat, and how operate a radio or emergency equipment when the boat has capsized or is flooded. They also need to have first aid knowledge, even for solo races, as it is only the boats themselves that are at acceptable distances of the other entries during a regatta, and which may be able to rescue other crews in the case of an accident. There are occasions where the victim of an accident might be able to survive an accident, but not bad treatment afterwards. They need to know how to cure a person of hypothermia without causing any long-term damage.

The regatta course

The final working day of the congress was dedicated entirely to the environment. The morning session was set aside for the competition space: “The Blue Planet”. Debate centred around the future of the marine environment, the protection of the oceans and the effects of climate change. The panel was made up of Mario Rodríguez (Greenpeace), Rémi Parmentier (Varda Group) Gordon Hamilton (University of Maine, Glaciologist), Hugo Morán ( PSOE Federal Secretary for the environment and spokesperson for the environment at Spain's Congress of Deputies), Luis Valdés (Director of Ocean Sciences at UNESCO), Maria Hood (Director of the IOCCP, theIntergovernmental Oceanic Commission) and Tomás Molina (meteorologist).

Rémi Parmentier, Hugo Morán and Mario Rodríguez delivered the public and social vision of the issues. Later Luis Valdés, Gordon Hamilton and Maria Hood examined the scientific issues behind the problem. In the afternoon session the delegates discussed conclusions from the COP 16 Conference on Climate Change organised by the UN and held in Cancun from the 29th of November to the 10th of December this year.

Hugo Morán: “In Spain a marine conservation law has been passed which is a transposition of an EU directive. In the debate on this law the lack of knowledge among citizens and politician about the interrelation that exists between the cases of contamination in remote geographical locations”

Mario Rodríguez: “The control of CO2 emissions is urgent, as the oceans are a climactic motor which has been seriously affected. The oceans are often forgotten at conferences on climate change, perhaps because the sea is thought to withstand everything and anything. The temperature increase brings with it higher sea levels and the acidification of the sea water. Action points must be: the reduction of emissions, the creation of protected marine areas and the reduction in energy consumption”.

Maria Hood: “The GOOS (Global Ocean Observing System) is a system which represents only 0,2% of what?s moving in the maritime sector. Their main challenge is to achieve data compatibility and to avoid the existence of blind areas. Helping their studies will help to understand the current situation better”.

Luís Valdés: “Climate change has always existed, but what we are seeing now is a constant increase in temperature, The increase is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases. An average increase in temperature of 2ºC is unacceptable. A comprehensive governing system is needed, which takes care of the areas beyond the jurisdiction of zones controlled by different governments. The UN plays a big part in that”.

Gordon Hamilton: “I prefer the term 'climate change' to 'global warming' as it is easier to understand. If sailing routes are opened up through the Arctic, the the icebergs will also be opened up. With warmer water the ice caps will melt underneath and will accelerate the speed at which the icebergs are pushed into the sea , as well as the speed at which they are destroyed”.

Remy Parmentier: “We've started the race to conserve the marine environment. Our challenges are the increase in temperature, the melting ice, increasing sea levels, the increase in extreme meteorological situations, the vulnerability of animals, the increasing acidity of the oceans and the endangering of the marine species. We need to get back to 350 ppm of CO2, whilst today we are close to 500 ppm and we must avoid the 1.5ºC increase in temperature. Now we are between 3 and 4ºC”.