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New Zealand’s oldest yacht club is now also the newest member of the growing group of “clean clubs” in the country.
Nelson Yacht Club, established in 1857, along with Charteris Bay Yacht Club and Australia’s Townsville Sailing Club this week received their one-star certification as part of Yachting New Zealand’s pioneering Clean Club programme.
The environmental initiative provides a framework for yachting and boating clubs to adopt or advance their sustainability journey and was launched in December 2021.
It focuses on five areas – administration and leadership, waste management, resource conservation, community outreach, and education - and is a progressive system moving from one star through to three stars, depending on how many best-practice criteria a club has achieved.
It’s attracted international attention and has been adopted by several Australian clubs – with the addition of Nelson Yacht Club, Charteris Bay Yacht Club and Townsville Sailing Club taking the total number of certified clubs to seven.
Various other clubs, from the Bluff Yacht Club in the south to the Mangonui Cruising Club in the north, have also signed up to become clean clubs in future.
Yachting New Zealand's education lead Natalia Groom said she is pleased to see new clubs taking the initiative to make a difference.
“That is what makes the Yachting New Zealand Clean Club programme so unique - clubs can work towards specifically tailored sustainability goals that suit them," Groom said.
"As we're seeing more extreme weather events across the globe it's increasingly important that we try to make a difference on our doorstep - no matter how small."
There is a strong alignment between the Clean Club programme and SailGP’s Impact League, a world-first initiative where teams compete not only on the water but are also scored on their positive environmental and social actions in the race for a second podium for the planet.
Through the partnership, the New Zealand SailGP team work with Yachting New Zealand to ensure lessons learned and solutions developed through the league can be adopted by clubs in the country.
