At Sailors for the Sea, we love sharing stories from ocean advocates making sustainable choices both on and off the water. In this Q&A, we’re catching up with a local leader in the Newport sailing scene: an experienced offshore sailor, US Sailing Level 1 Instructor Trainer, and the former Education Program Manager at Sail Newport. Most recently, she joined The Ocean Race Europe as a Learning Advisor in June 2025, all while sailing competitively, from NYYC IC37s to WEdnesday night Shields, and serving as the Social Media Chair for the Twenty Hundred Club.
She recently sailed her first Block Island Race Week (BIRW) and shared how her team prepared both competitively and sustainably.
This was your first BIRW—how did it go?
It was an awesome experience. While I’ve done events like the Bacardi Cup in Florida and NYYC Race Week in Newport, this was my first time at Block Island Race Week. We competed in the navigator races, so we sailed one longer race each day, usually finishing around 3:30 p.m., which gave us time to reset and prepare thoughtfully.
What’s race week preparation like for your team?
Preparation is everything. The boat and the team were ready well ahead of the event. We planned our sail inventory about a week in advance, which helped reduce weight and clutter onboard by only bringing what we needed for each day. Since it’s an inshore regatta, we could leave unneeded sails onshore.
Our skipper also made smart logistical choices, like booking a house big enough for the whole crew. Interestingly, the house had no air conditioning, but thanks to great airflow, we didn’t need it. That saved about 35–50 kWh of energy per day, which was a meaningful win for sustainability.
We shuttled from the crew house to Champlin’s Marina with just two cars thanks to pre-planned ferry tickets and an early reservation for a dock space. Having a proper dock space also helped us better manage debris—making sure nothing accidentally ended up overboard.
How did you approach food and provisioning with sustainability in mind?
For BIRW, I used a “sustainability lens” to help guide my choices. It can feel overwhelming to consider every environmental impact, so I focused on two priorities: reducing plastic packaging and avoiding anything that would add unnecessary waste to the landfill.
Here’s how we approached meals:
Breakfast: Eggs, hash browns, bacon, and fruit. All cooked at the house using reusable dishes and a dishwasher.
Lunch: We made sandwiches daily, chicken salad, turkey, and roast beef, using consistent ingredients to minimize food waste (same rolls, cheese, etc.). We wrapped them in tinfoil instead of plastic bags, and recycled the foil afterward.
Dinner: Two meals were pre-made and frozen, then defrosted and reheated—lasagna and chicken, broccoli, rice. Others were cooked fresh: burgers with Caesar salad, or grilled chicken with pasta.
We reused ingredients across meals, like bacon and lettuce, to cut down on both cost and waste.
What specific provisioning swaps helped reduce your environmental impact?
Chose paper over plastic packaging where possible.
Bought sauces in glass bottles instead of plastic.
Avoided individually packaged snacks like chips or meat sticks.
Used water jugs to refill bottles instead of buying single-use plastic water bottles.
What sustainability challenges did you run into?
Mainstream grocery stores like Market Basket don’t make it easy to avoid plastic. I recommend shopping at local stores like Green Grocer or the farmers market when possible. Unfortunately, many food suppliers still over-rely on plastic packaging, so there’s still a long way to go.
Anything you’d do differently next time?
Yes. Block Island had a filtered water system onshore at the docks, which I didn’t realize until later. If I’d known earlier, I would’ve brought reusable water jugs daily instead of relying on 2-gallon plastic containers.
What advice do you have for other sailors looking to be more sustainable?
Buy eggs on the island. Ours broke during transport, and the price on BI was surprisingly reasonable.
Identify your top 3 issues onboard—maybe it’s single-use plastics, or fuel use, or provisioning waste—and work on solutions for those first.
Choose a sustainability lens. It helps focus your actions. You could focus on reducing electricity, landfill waste, plastics, grey water, or even making better choices at restaurants.
Support eco-minded businesses. For instance, we opted to hang out at Champlin’s Marina because they use recyclable aluminum cups outdoors instead of plastic. That kind of small decision adds up.
Whether you’re racing hard or just cruising with friends, sustainability starts with the choices we make every day. At Sailors for the Sea, we’re proud to support ocean champions like you, one regatta, one meal, and one reusable water bottle at a time. 🌊⛵
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