Oceanum Vela repurposes elite racing yacht sails into authentic race sail memorabilia, saving them from occupying landfills around the world. The business of making sail bags is not an entirely a new concept as tons and tons of sails are repurposed every year by lovely boutiques around the world. These sail repurposing boutiques have been collecting mostly old cruising and small race sails for decades now, and they get turned into very nice repurposed sail bags and accessories.
So where do old famous and elite race sails end up? I’ve found a few race yacht sails repurposed in these said boutiques here or there, but where do the massive collection of old and retired race sails go? I’ve talked to skippers and boat managers of several flashy race yachts; Brian Thompson told me he wanted to have old Phaedo 3 sails repurposed, but hadn't the means to figure out the logistics. Who wanted the massive and heavy old sails? Who was going to take them and transport them to where they would need to go? Heartbrokenly, this is why I decided to start the initiative, Oceanum Vela - to help facilitate collecting old race sails to be repurposed!
After chasing my sailing dream of getting on a few old Volvo Ocean Race yachts to see what it was all about, it was confirmed what is mostly done with old race sails; and it turns out, its actually a serious end of life waste management issue. I personally saw original Whitbread spinnakers get blown out and then - tossed out.
One particular experience sailing on and discussing the issue with the Warrior Sailing Team that ran the Volvo Open 70 (VO70), former Camper that raced in 2011-2012, I found two old main sails that I was told I could salvage if I picked them up at the boatyard before someone tripped on them and decided they were better placed in the bin. One of these mainsails help realize one of the most memorable sailing experiences of my life- helming at 22 knots and making it from Bermuda to the mouth of the Delaware in 48hours flat. It should be noted within that time, the first 12hours of the trip were spent in glassy calm Bermudian waters where we stopped to have a dip and swing from the halyard! Those Warrior guys were super welcoming onboard and made that part of the trip back home a ton of fun; not only inspiring to create something from their famously designed Volvo Ocean Race sails.
I went back to visit Antigua for the Caribbean 600 in February where it all seemingly started for me; this year’s trip I was able to meet a half dozen or so new teams and former Volvo Ocean Race boats, the more I meet and discuss with, the more I hear more of the same… it’s an issue, a major issue to know what to do with big old race sails when they are no longer sailable. Team Maserati helped gather up a few former Ericsson 3 sails from their VO70 that raced in VOR 2008-2009, however, it was confessed to me that 3 delaminated Mod70 sails the team had since let away to a far less appealing destiny. That destiny is tons of plastic filling up massive space in a landfill.
The first VO70 I got a little ride on during Les Voiles de St Barts in 2016 was when I was invited aboard by Leonel Pean and Team SFS. This boat is now branded I Love Poland but was originally Puma Mar Mostro from the VOR 2011-2012. The boat manager/skipper confessed he had had 3 Team SCA (from the all female team to complete in the race while it was known as the Volvo Ocean Race) training sails that they put into a bin a bit over a year ago. I’ve intended to find some of these sails to offer help in supporting The Magenta Project with repurposed sails from their training time getting ready for their Round the World jaunt! The former SCA boat that actually competed in VOR 2014-2015, despite the fact that the yacht was only few islands away while I was in Antigua and now known as AmberSails2, I missed it in this year’s jaunt to the Caribbean.
The good news is that we found the former Vestas 11th Hour Racing yacht from the VOR 2017-2018, where we might have just scored a broken FRO (Fractional Code Zero, the largest and most impressive of the genoa headsails) and Wizard rocked up to the dock with a broken old Volvo Ocean Race Winning Groupama 4 jib! Let me help these programs give these old sails a new life instead of dying in a landfill. Let’s help preserve the culture and history of the Life At the Extreme that these sails have endured. Let’s do this while helping to support projects that help protect our playground!
These sails raced around the planet and now provide for the planet today instead of contributing to planet waste; to help celebrate World Oceans Day and protect the ocean they raced- Get your piece of the race!
June 8, World Oceans Day is important this year - as for 2020 World Oceans Day is a growing global movement to call on world leaders to protect 30% of our blue planet by 2030. This critical need is called 30x30. By safeguarding at least 30% of our ocean through a network of highly protected areas we can help ensure a healthy home for all! To help support this effort, sign their petition
We have partnered up with a local nonprofit, Clean Ocean Access (COA) based in Newport, RI for the month of June to support their critical efforts with 10% of proceeds from all sales. COA’s goals are to eliminate marine debris, improve coastal water quality, and protect and preserve shoreline access. Clean Ocean Access aims to promote a sustainable sailing community through projects such as Healthy Soils, Healthy Seas, RI, and Shrink Wrap Recycling. To learn more about COA, visit their website.
We can’t forget the amazingly exciting ocean race footage from the Caribbean 600 2020- Shop here to Get a Piece of the Race and support World Oceans Today!
by Melissa Kalicin, Founder and Director of Business Philosophy
