Sustainability

GSYS Manifesto for a Sustainable World Championship 2026

Foreword

GSYS has been granted the honor by the international sailing federation, World Sailing, to host the 2026 Team Racing World Championship for keelboats. The event will take place from August 12th to 16th on Riddarfjärden, located in the heart of Sweden’s capital, Stockholm.

Both World Sailing and GSYS have very high ambitions to plan and deliver an event that meets the absolute highest standards in terms of sustainability.

At GSYS, we are making significant efforts to ensure that this not only complies with the regulations and objectives set out by the sailing community but also serves as a model for future events — in sailing and in the wider sports world. We aim to take sustainability one step further. To that end, we have formulated the following Manifesto.

MANIFESTO

The 2026 Team Racing World Championship for Keelboats on Riddarfjärden SHALL be built upon the three widely recognized pillars of sustainability: Environmental, Social, and Economic.

The event will be inspired by and guided by the goals set forth in:

• SDG 2030, the Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, which provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its core are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call to action for all countries—developed and developing—within a global partnership.

• Documentation provided by World Sailing, such as the Sustainability Agenda 2030, Event Handbook, World Sailing Sustainability Annual Report, and the Sailors for the Sea Clean Regattas 2023 Toolkit.

• GSYS’s internal sustainability policy and this GSYS Manifesto for a Sustainable World Championship.

Responsibility for achieving the event’s sustainability goals lies with the Race Management Team and the designated Sustainability Officer.

Economic sustainability will be overseen by a project-appointed Controller, in collaboration with the Sustainability Officer, who will be tasked with measurement and evaluation.

At all stages — before, during, and after the event — all stakeholders SHALL be made aware of the sustainability initiative and encouraged to contribute creative ideas on how all aspects can be further optimized from a sustainability perspective.

FOCUS AREAS FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN THIS PROJECT

WATER

As this is a sailing event, water is naturally at the heart of our sustainability work. This includes both the water we sail on, which should be minimally impacted and polluted, and the water we consume, which should be provided and handled as sustainably as possible.

GSYS has invited local actors already working on environmental projects in the relevant waters to showcase their efforts to the world — highlighting how they contribute to a better future for the local water environment, the archipelago, and the Baltic Sea.

GSYS has also invited an organization working to provide clean, natural, and health-promoting drinking water.

EQUIPMENT

A regatta of this nature involves a large amount of equipment: the racing boats, support boats, pontoons, and race markers, as well as all systems for information management.

Examples of actions include using renovated boats instead of newly manufactured ones, racing sails made from recycled fibers, and a support boat fleet powered by electricity from sustainably generated sources. Any boats that cannot be electric-powered will use fossil-free fuels.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

The food and beverages consumed by participants, officials, visitors, and the public — including breakfasts, lunches, “After Sail” gatherings, regatta dinners, and café offerings — should be locally produced, meet high sustainability standards, and be managed with minimal waste.

We have also engaged sustainability-focused partners that address the water issue within food circularity.

WASTE AND RECYCLING

GSYS is already working proactively to minimize waste and maximize recycling at all events leading up to the World Championship. For the 2026 event, we are bringing in partners to support both preventive measures and waste management on-site.

These efforts will also be communicated to visitors and the public to help spread awareness.

SAILOR VILLAGE

On the northern shore of Riddarfjärden, along Norr Mälarstrand, we are building a Sailor Village with all necessary functions: administration, meeting rooms, a workshop, changing rooms, and a café serving both athletes and visitors.

The design and construction of the sailor village shall prioritize sustainability to the highest degree possible.

ORGANIZATION

A World Championship naturally involves international participation, which presents certain challenges in terms of sustainability.

GSYS has been tasked by World Sailing to build an event organization that is as socially sustainable as possible. This includes balanced representation of genders, ages, and underrepresented groups not typically involved in sailing.

We will also strive to balance international officials, required for certain roles, with local talent to reduce long-distance travel and transportation.

The event organization will be built with optimization of these factors in mind.

TRANSPORT

GSYS has committed to ensuring that no fossil fuels need be used for transport from the moment a participant lands at Arlanda Airport until their departure.

Accommodations and event activities will be within walking distance of the Sailor Village. For accommodations across Riddarfjärden, GSYS plans to transport participants and officials by electric boat.

We also aim to involve local public transport and e-bike providers to support this goal. All actions are aimed at minimizing direct CO2 emissions.

MEASURABILITY

The Sustainability Officer is responsible for defining, measuring, and reporting all activities of the event.

The report will be submitted to World Sailing for inclusion in their Sustainability Annual Report, and also shared with partners, sponsors, and suppliers.

Additionally, it will be submitted to the City of Stockholm for their reporting and planning of future events in the city and on Riddarfjärden.

COMMUNICATION

World Sailing strongly encourages that all sustainability initiatives and achievements of the event are communicated broadly — to both the international sailing community and the local and regional public.

To facilitate this, GSYS is developing collaborations with partners and stakeholders to create public relations initiatives and distribute news and updates on sustainability successes.

A dedicated communications team has been formed within the World Championship organization to handle this.

GSYS intends to make the 2026 Team Racing World Championship for Keelboats on Riddarfjärden one of the most sustainable international sporting events ever produced.

The GSYS Racing Committee

Magnus Myrenberg — Event Chair