This week, the “MOD70 Race for Water” arrived in Bordeaux ! Initiated by the “Race for Water” Foundation, the “Race for Water Odyssey” (R4WO) aims to draw up the first global assessment of plastic pollution in oceans. In 300 days, over 40,000 nautical miles will be traveled, punctuated by 11 scientific stopovers and 9 outreach stopovers, involving a total of 13 countries.
Credit : M Lloyd
On Sunday, March 15, the crew will raise anchor with the intention of gaining knowledge about waste gyres in less than one year. Even though they constitute a major environmental disaster, these immense pollution zones in oceans are in fact still relatively unknown. The goal of this scientific sailing expedition is to draw up an initial global assessment.
A team eager to cast off
After several weeks of technical preparations in Lorient (France), the crew headed from Brittany to Bordeaux. The six-member onboard team will be headed by Marco Simeoni, founder of the “Race for Water” Foundation and leader of the expedition :
“Marine plastic pollution is alarming and we must quickly find sustainable collection and valorization solutions. To devise solutions, we must fully understand the problem. I am confident that when we return from this expedition, we will have genuine leads for developing solutions that will preserve our oceans. But drawing up the assessment won’t be the end of our mission; the assessment is merely the first phase of a project that will take several years.”
For his part, Stève Ravussin, Swiss navigator and skipper of this expedition :
“The sea has given me so much; it enabled me to make a name for myself. The time has come for me to return the favor by showing the extent to which the sea is suffering from our actions. We come across countless diverse objects on the high seas. In 2012 during the Krys Ocean Race with this same catamaran, my path was obstructed by a drifting container, so I know what I am talking about. It is important to make this known, and I look forward to starting the R4WO to move things forward. Our training sessions in Lorient went well, and the entire team is ready to tackle the trip around the world.”
The highlight of this stopover, the departure of the “MOD70 Race for Water”, will take place on Sunday, March 15 at approximately 3 pm. The trimaran and her crew will then set sail for Azores (Portugal), the first of the R4WO’s eleven scientific stopovers, where the scientific protocol will be deployed for the first time. Before returning to Bordeaux in mid-December 2015, the crew will sail for 300 days in order to draw up an initial global pollution assessment of the “world’s biggest trash can”.
D-2! The #crew will be signing autographs tomorrow at the #MOD70 #RaceforWater, come and meet them! #R4WO #Bordeaux pic.twitter.com/7rY1EM6Q6z
— Race for Water (@RaceForWater) March 13, 2015
From Race for Water
