Sustainability spotlight - Q&A with Jackie Gay

She started to sail competitively in 2006, took up Paralympic sailing and rose quickly through the ranks as a Skud and 2.4mR sailor. Along with her husband John McRoberts she was awarded the 2013 Sail Canada Team of the Year, and three years later they won the silver medal together at the 2016 Paralympic Games – for which she and John received the Sail Canada Rolex Sailor of the Year Award.

She is the first woman with a disability to be accepted as a ‘mile-builder’ on Tracy Edwards’ Maiden and prior to the pandemic was scheduled to sail across the Atlantic. She sees Maiden’s mission to empower girls through education as a crucial element building sustainable future for all and is eagerly awaiting her opportunity to be a part of this initiative.

Jackie has a strong affinity with nature and the impact of human activity on the environment is a high priority for her home town of Victoria, British Columbia. The city, which sits on the southern end of Vancouver Island, declared a climate emergency in March 2019 and has since implemented measures designed to promote sustainability with a focus on reducing emissions, preserving the city’s tree canopy and diverting recyclable waste away from landfill.

Taking on the message of sustainability, Jackie is now focusing on ways in which sailing can become more environmentally conscious.

What does sustainability mean to you?

It means giving back not depleting. Restoring ecosystems, not damaging them. Taking nothing for granted – be that air, water, earth, plants or animals. Being alert and present to what supports nature to support all life as well as what harms it. 

How did you get interested in sustainability?

I have always been interested in sustainability. My grandmother saved her foil milk bottle tops in a cupboard under the stairs, we patched up clothes, sails and boats. We knew we were lucky to have access to any of those things. 

What are you most proud of in terms of your work on sustainability?

Spreading the word. Trying to be an example and showing that people with disabilities can be deeply involved in caring for the planet.

What has been the most difficult challenge that you have overcome?

I haven’t truly overcome it, because our sport – and all international sport – often requires considerable international travel: but sport does so much that is positive, so we need to find ways of making this as friendly as possible for the planet.

During Covid, I did not travel at all and that felt good. I have an electric car, grow a lot of my own food, support my local ecosystem restoration and buy very little.

It’s a conundrum because I know how valuable sport – especially para sport – is in building communities, facilitating healthy competition and challenging attitudes.

I like what SailGP is doing with their Impact League and hope all big events can follow suit. I love that Optimist has brought out the first recyclable dinghy. I love what Ellen MacArthur is doing with the Ellen MacArthur foundation to design away waste.

What would be your advice to those in sailing or anyone who wants to help?

Protect what you love: the waters, the oceans. Do it from the heart and don’t be put off by the naysayers. Everyone can stop using plastic water bottles and recycle waste properly. Everyone can help restore shorelines and riparian areas. Everyone can lobby governments and manage with less stuff.