Sailing charter operator Abel Tasman Sailing Adventures has been awarded ‘Zero Carbon’ certification through EKOS, an international non-profit enterprise.

Company owner Jane-Maree Holmes is extremely proud of the achievement. “As an environmentally interactive activity we’ve always tried to be aware of our environmental footprint. Becoming Zero Carbon-certified is something we’ve been wanting to measure and offset for a while.”

Certification has been a natural progression for the Kaiteriteri and Nelsonbased business, as sustainability is at the heart of its ethos and values. Offsetting the company’s carbon use has been complemented by offsetting personal vehicle use.

“As a family-owned business our work and personal lives are often blended, and to make sure we capture all our carbon use we’ve included all our private vehicle use. It was interesting that our vehicle carbon measurement was far more than from our vessels – it’s endorsed the realisation that sailing yachts are the definitely the way to go.”

The company is now refurbishing a 16m sailing catamaran (scheduled for a November relaunch) which will sail from Kaiteriteri. It has comfortable, sheltered seating for up to 40 sailors – ideal for the company’s programme of combination sail, walk, cruise and kayak tours.

The Covid pandemic also saw the company re-evaluate its operation, resulting in some new sailing holiday options for New Zealanders.

“We want to show New Zealanders that we live in one of the world’s most scenic countries. We’ve designed our trips to have low environmental impacts, we only need the wind in our sails and some adventurous sailors to move us forward.”