We are a team of adventurous and daring girls based in Bristol, UK who will be taking part in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge in December 2020. This is a 3,000 mile annual Ocean Rowing race where every December, about 30 teams set off from La Gomera in the Canary Islands in their ocean rowing boats and row continuously for 30-50 days on route to the race finish line in Antigua. It is considered the world’s toughest row and it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted!

We all have our personal reasons for wanting to take part in this challenge, however what brought us together was our love of adventure and rowing, and our shared concerns for the health of our ocean and our planet. Not only do we get to have an adventure of a lifetime, but we get an opportunity to do something new and use this platform to inspire change.

Crossing an ocean is already quite challenging and we knew we wanted to do it in the most sustainable way possible. We wanted to know how far we could push the sustainable aspect, from the design and build of our boat all the way to the kind of food and packaging we’ll be taking and the kit we’ll be using, such as oars, clothing, even cosmetics.

Our boat will be the first ‘Eco boat’ to achieve such a rowing challenge – a racing boat, built by Rannoch Adventure, which uses more sustainable composite materials with the aim to have less impact on the environment.

The ‘Eco boat’ is made of three main components – resin, glass fibre and foam core. Over 50% of the carbon used to produce the resin is plant based making it greener than commonly used alternatives. Renewable energy is used to manufacture the glass fibre and the foam core is manufactured from 100% recycled post-consumer plastic (PET) – your standard single-use plastic bottle – just thousands of them!

The entire build process has also been adapted to be less wasteful and therefore have a lesser impact on the environment.

No ocean rowing boat in this race has ever been built before like ours. We hope to instigate new standards for the methods of boat building within the race and other maritime industries. As ocean rowing becomes more and more popular, we hope that our Eco Boat will be the first of many!

It was key for us from the beginning to choose partners that champion the sustainability values that we have. We have been extremely rewarded with a lot of support from brands, such as Fourth Element, that are environmentally responsible and it makes us even more determined to realise our goal and to make it across the ocean in the most sustainable way possible.

We are in love with our campaign, and we want brands and individuals who care about our oceans and our planet to let us know and join this mission!

Brands can join our journey by having a logo on our Eco Boat hull and even individuals can join with their name on the boat! Visit www.thebristolgulls.com/sponsorship to find out more!