2025 Women’s Winter Invitational

Every competitor received a personalized reusable cup to use at the water refill stations and bars all weekend. Other drinks (provided by sponsors) were served in recyclable aluminum cans or glass bottles. Water refill stations were provided at morning yoga, breakfast, throughout the day on the docks, and at evening social events. There are multiple permanently mounted water refill stations throughout the club grounds.

Straws were not offered, but paper straws were available upon request.

Evening meals were served on washable, reusable dinnerware. Breakfasts (not pictured) were served on recycled paper plates, with compostable spoons.

Skippers were provided with reusable bags for their swag. There were reusable bags available for Race Committee lunches.

All competitors received practical swag, including reef-safe sunscreen, SPF lip balm, and band-aids. The overall take-home awards were Helly Hansen backpacks and bags. “Just for Fun” awards throughout the weekend were reusable mugs. The Women's Regattas perpetual trophy was awarded to the overall winning team.

Our green initiatives were mentioned in event documents, press release, and final wrap-up article, as well as at all competitors' meetings.

10 Kts clothing company was onsite to introduce the participants to their women’s-specific clothing line. Maui brewing provided samples and informational signage about their products.

Informational signage encouraged everyone to use their reusable cups, as plastic cups were not provided. Reusable banners welcomed competitors. The Mount Gay banner is made entirely of recycled plastic and encourage viewers to work together to “end the ocean plastic crisis.” Advertising via SDYC’s digital information boards eliminated the need for single-use flyers and posterboard.

We worked with our vendors to source food sustainably, as much as possible.

Our green team communicated with catering and vendors ahead of time regarding our initiatives. Throughout the event, our 'Green Press Team' documented everything with photos.

Trash and Recycling Bins were clearly labeled and placed conveniently around the event site.

No printed event documents were made available, estimating a savings of approximately 100 sheets of paper. Participants used QR Codes to access the NOR, SIs, scoring, rotation sheets, and social schedule. Registration, waivers, and boat deposits were all handled electronically. Scoring was updated live via google sheets from a shore-side computer, and competitors continually tracked the results via their cell phones.

The two markset boats for this event were 100% electric ribs, powered by Vita.

Vegetarian and Vegan options included Mediterranean salad, meat-free breakfast burritos, seaweed salad, and soba noodles with roasted vegetables.

Competitors were encouraged to use ride-share and carpool from their host clubs to the venue. Local housing was provided, and many teams were able to walk from their accommodation to the club each day. SDYC offers bicycle and EV parking.

Other than our fully electric, zero-emission markset boats, the RC Signal boat’s engine was not running while at anchor. Rechargeable/Reusable sound signals were used throughout the weekend in place of single-use air canisters.

Simply registering our regatta with Sailors for the Sea for the first time has inspired us to examine not only how we can improve this event in the future but how we might influence other SDYC events to adopt more clean, green initiatives. We identified some ways in which we think we went above and beyond: paperless event management, green regatta practices, and elimination of most single-use plastics. However, there are definitely areas that not just this event, but our club overall, could improve: diverting waste from landfills, prioritizing sourcing food locally, and advertising our efforts to include and inspire local organizations.