Mercury Class encouraging ocean stewardship - Sailors for the Sea

Mercury Class encouraging ocean stewardship

 January 25, 2012  | By: Oceana

The Mercury Class Yacht Racing Association, based in California, recently adapted text to their constitution to encourage a role in ocean stewardship. The class is the first to include such an initiative in their constitution and make a commitment to joining Sailors for the Sea as a class! Their constitution will now state:

Article III. OBJECT

To promote and develop Mercury Class racing under uniform rules governed by the Association, to maintain the one design features of Mercury Class Yachts and encourage a role in ocean stewardship.

On the back cover of their directory/ yearbook they will include more information:

The Mercury Class encourages a role in ocean stewardship while planning and participating in Mercury Class events and promotes practices that align with stewardship goals, such as, but not limited to those listed in the Clean Regatta program established by Sailors for the Sea.

The Mercury class voted to join Sailors for the Sea, as a class, after they changed their constitution as a route to moving forward as ocean stewards.

We are very excited to have the Mercury class committed to ocean stewardship. We would like to congratulate this long standing class for it’s forward thinking by adapting this important initiative.

2011 Huntington Lake Regatta photo by Barbara Whelan

History of the Mercury class: The 18 foot Mercury full keel sloop was originally introduced in 1939 at the World’s Fair (Golden Gate International Exposition) in San Francisco.  This Ernest Nunes design was built of a new breakthrough material- waterproof plywood.  In 1962, fiberglass hulls were introduced and aluminum spars, in 1970.  The Nationals have been held every year since 1947. The class continues to be popular and competitive, today. History continued>>