Sustainable Strategies Onboard Tall Ships - Sailors for the Sea

Sustainable Strategies Onboard Tall Ships

 March 26, 2026  | By: Emily Conklin

There are endless amounts of ways to enjoy being on the water. Though a lot of our work focuses on racing and regattas, we are honored to work on sustainability with events and organizations outside of this norm, from paddlers to rowers and any other way folks appreciate the water. One group we have been delighted to lean more into working with over the past year are tall ships. A natural fit for sustainability, tall ships are wooden vessels with traditional rigging and the organizations that run them, dedicated to sail training and keeping the legacy of sailing alive. We were excited to learn from this rich history and the amazing crew at this year’s Tall Ships America Conference in Chula Vista, California.  

The Tall Ships America Annual Conference on Sail Training and Tall Ships gathers ships’ masters, crewmembers, program administrators, educators, environmentalists, port representatives, festival managers and more for an information-packed three-day conference. Topics covered vessel operations, regulatory issues, management, educational programming, and too many others to list. With this year’s theme of “Traditional Sails, Modern Winds”, the sustainability lessons of ships up to or over 100 years old were front and center.

We were again joined by our friend from Sound Experience, Partnership Director Richard Lauridsen, to run a workshop on green boating in the context of sailing on board a tall ship. Our presentation focused on incorporating sustainability into provisioning, maintenance, viewing wildlife, and inspiring environmental stewardship in the next generation, with Richard lending real life experience from aboard the Schooner Adventuress. The best part of a workshop, though, is the input of the attendees, and we had a robust discussion with representatives from organizations across the country. From cleaning products to food waste management, the common thread was not a lack of awareness, but a lack of resources. Luckily, that’s a deficit that Sailors for the Sea is uniquely positioned to support.  

Armed with new ideas and new friends, we left the conference with more understanding of the tall ships community and ready to tackle future projects. Caring for a tall ship requires a sustainability mindset and we are so excited to collaborate on the journey of this community. As our friends at Sound Experience say, we are all shipmates.