In these enlightened days of heightened sensitivity in our sport around sustainability and ocean health a major headache for regatta organisers has been the need to attach plastic bow stickers to competing boats for identification and/or sponsorship purposes.
Best case scenario is that after the event the trash cans around the regatta site are crammed full of the un-recyclable discarded stickers and their backing material, while worst case is that the teams fail to secure the stickers properly and they end up washing around the lake/sea/ocean for eternity.
Aside from the potential damage to the environment, this is also a public relations disaster waiting to happen.
Imagine the potential brand damage from a photo of a turtle or some other species of marine life nibbling on or enveloped in a stray bow sticker still proudly bearing the sponsor’s name and logo.
Now though it seems there is a solution to this regatta organiser’s dilemma.
It comes in the form of a new range of biodegradable bow number and advertising stickers from raceboat supplier PROtect Tapes – a company whose other products are used on boats as small as foiling Moths and Olympic dinghies through to TP52s, Volvo Ocean Race and IMOCA 60s, to the America’s Cup.
PROtect BOW # stickers are made of bioplastic films that use renewable resources to reduce environmental impact while matching the performance of conventional products.
Now, because the stickers are made of biodegradable and compostable materials, when the regatta is over they can be removed from the boat and disposed of with the organic waste. Stickers that don’t make it that far and fall off during racing due to poor application will degrade completely within one year.
PROtect Tapes recommend these bioplastic film stickers for events lasting seven to 10 days, but for shorter regattas they have other specialist paper stickers made sugar cane residue.
With PROtect Tapes offering a turn key solution yacht racing event organisers encompassing printing (including variable data) and die cutting the stickers it’s hard to see why any event would choose a non-environmentally friendly alternative solution.