5 minute read
SHOOTIN’ THE BREEZE
QIs there a particular place you would love to sail? HM Into Cape Town and on the edge of the Arctic Circle.
We catch up with Holly Manvell who set up Clean Sailors and is head of commercial operations at Falmouth Harbour.
QCongratulations on your appointment as Head of Commercial Operations at Falmouth Harbour. What does your role involve?
HM Thank you. I am really excited to join this super team. My strategic focus is on the longer term growth for Falmouth Harbour - working closely with our CEO Miles Carden to generate new, profitable, innovative business streams and projects. In addition to this important role I am tasked with improving customer services and the range of harbour services.
QYou are also an Advocate for the Ocean Conservation Trust. Can you tell us more about this?
HM In order to help protect our ocean, it is important we understand the value that it brings us: our health, food and climate stability to name just a few, and to protect our natural environment we need to start with us – people. There is nogreater source of life, nor governor to the balance of our global environment thanour ocean. This is why the work of our Ocean Conservation Trust is so important – to teach, to inspire and to conserve the most important asset we have and will ever have – the sea. I am both humbled and honoured to be an Advocate for this great organisation and a fantastic team, doing some really incredible things – education, inspiration and conservation of our waters. Q In 2020 you set up Clean Sailors followed by Cleaner Marina last year. Can you tell us about their aims?
HM Over the years, I have got more adventurous in my sailing and heading further away from shore. You see some of the most incredible sites - sunrises, sunsets and wildlife. And floating pollution - plastic bottles, crates, fishing nets - you name it. More often than not, the rubbish in our oceans comes from our lives on land and it is a sad fact that there is just so much of it in our waters.
It got me thinking that we sailors already love the sea – it is our pleasure, pastime and, for many, our profession. Given we use it so much, we should more naturally stand for protecting it and safeguarding its health. And so, in 2020, Clean Sailors was born - a way in which to share a love for the sea, a passion for sailing and the science behind how it works with a community I felt I was increasingly beginning to meet and speak to – sailors.
Clean Sailors was founded on a very honest passion for sharing what I was learning with others, and to help mobilise our global sailing community into being the ocean ambassadors it is natural for us to be. We are not much without the sea.
During our first few months, I began to appreciate that whilst many of us sailors want to be cleaner and make better choices about our sailing lifestyle, it really needs our supporting gateways onshore to help, notably for us sea-sailors, our marinas, ports and harbours.
In 2021, Cleaner Marina was born, the sister initiative aimed at championing and inspiring marinas, ports and harbours around the world to be guardians of cleaner, healthier seas.
QParalympian Hannah Stodel is one of the Clean Sailors ambassadors – how did you come to work with Hannah?
HM Hannah is working towards becoming the first disabled female sailor to compete in the 2024 Vendée Globe – a single-handed, non-stop round the world yacht race – and she is passionate about using her platform to raise awareness of incredibly important issues - sustainability within our industry being one.
Having been a professional sailor all her life, she has been pretty astounded at how wasteful our industry can be, particularly on professional race circuits. We came together agreeing that continuing to build and produce the way we have, often without regard for our oceans and our planet, needs to be challenged. Q If there is one single thing leisure boaters could do to be more environmentally friendly what would it be?
HM Use cleaner, non-paint antifoul solutions. Sadly, anti-foul paintsarefull of microplastics (used to bind paint together) and many still have high copper content in them – not good news for our waters and marine life.
QEarlier this year you launched the Clean Sailors Youth Racing Team with three international under-25 champion sailors. Which races have they taken part in so far? Q What is still to come in Falmouth Harbour in 2022? HM Lots! As well as further sailing events, we have got a host of projects working in the background including technology and innovation – seeing autonomous wavepowered vessels testing in our waters is really cool.
QYou are incredibly busy, but what do you like to do when you get some down time?
HM I love to spend time either working on the boat or exploring our beautiful Cornwall shores on foot. It is a truly beautiful place all year round.
QTell us something people might not know about you! HM My first word was Marmite and luckily I still like it!
HM Our team of young champion sailors are competing in the 69F Youth Foiling Gold Cup in the incredibly fast and particularly good-looking 69F foiling one-design boat by Persico Marine. There are four acts with the grand finale in November. They are doing incredibly well so far, alongside competing in their own individual circuits including SailGP, WASZP Worlds and Moth Worlds. Their stamina astounds me!
QYou enjoy boating – tell us about your boat and where you enjoy sailing?
HM My little boat is older than I am but completely trustworthy for inshore sailing. Cruising around our South Cornwall coast is a particular favourite of mine, particularly up the Helford. I also really enjoy the run to the Channel Islands and I will be crossing the Biscay again later this year.
