The boating world is starting to realise its environmental impact
As leisure activities go, owning a luxury yacht doesn't have the greenest of reputations. Motor yachts in particular are not fuel-efficient vessels and, in addition to all the energy used up and pollutants generated by their engines, there's the power required to provide air-conditioning and all the other electrical functions needed to make them a home on the water. Then there are the materials they're made from: non-recyclable fibreglass for the hull, for example, and all kinds of resins and plastics in the interior. However, driven by consumer interest in all things green, the yachting industry is trying gradually to get its environmental act together.
Of course, that's easier to do with sailing yachts, powered as they are mainly by a completely renewable source. As Luca Bassani Antivari, founder and president of ultra high-end yachtmaker Wally, puts it: "Sailing is probably the most sustainable and renewable way to move around the world." In addition to wind, wave and solar power are also becoming more popular ways of reducing yachts' carbon footprint.