Lhe transatlantic sailing regattas have thrilled the French public for sixty years and the famous victory of Eric Tabarly in the 1964 Ostar [Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race, la Transat anglaise], a race since renamed The Transat. This solo race foreshadowed the popular events that have become the Route du rhum or the Vendée Globe. This sport reaches a wide audience: 1.5 million people came to admire the boats and the start of the last Route du rhum, or 2% of the French population.
However, these transatlantic races are doomed.
Sailors who take part in the deckchairs generally leave France, cross the Atlantic by sail and arrive in the Antilles, sometimes on the American continent. The athletes are joined there by their technical teams and their sponsors. A procession of companions crosses the ocean by plane and en masse to welcome their heroes.
The carbon footprint of these numerous plane trips is not negligible. A round trip between mainland France and the Antilles corresponds more or less to the sustainable carbon budget of a human for one year, or two tonnes of CO equivalent2. This is why experts, including those from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), are calling for a drastic reduction in air travel.
The pollution generated by the thousands of airborne trips that accompany each deckchair clashes with the image of the sport of sailing, a practice which relies solely on the force of the wind to move across the seas and oceans. In addition, some sailboats return by cargo, adding tens of tons of CO2 to the teams’ carbon footprint.
Life cycle analyzes of racing boats, with their increasingly short lifespan, reveal numerous environmental impacts, particularly due to the use of composite materials from petrochemicals. This dissonance between the image of this sport and the intense dependence on fossil fuels is, however, only the tip of the iceberg.
Why do sponsors invest hundreds of millions of euros in ever more spectacular boats and highly publicized races? Obviously to influence the behavior of the public, their consumption choices. Which economic sector advertises itself by financing transatlantic races? This is the industry of flying tourism to tropical beaches.
Other routes are possible
Thus, the Guadeloupe region finances the Rum Route-Destination Guadeloupe. The Martinique region supports the Transat Jacques Vabre. And the Mini-Transat, an introductory race where future professionals learn their skills, is sponsored this year by an airline specializing in the Antilles. These transatlantic races are therefore, on an economic level, spectacles which aim to promote distant tourism and the use of long-haul aircraft.
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