Who we are?

The RYA is the national governing body for all forms of recreational and competitive boating. It represents dinghy and yacht racing, motor and sail cruising, RIBs and powerboats, windsurfing, inland cruising and personal watercraft.

The RYA represents the rights of over 100,000 RYA members as well the interests of a hundred of thousands of boat owners across the UK along with RYA affiliated clubs and class associations.

The Green Blue is the Royal Yachting Association’s environmental programme. Since its launch in 2005, it has been inspiring the recreational boating community to make more sustainable choices. Its mission is to inform, enable, and empower boaters to protect and enhance our waters for the benefit of people and nature.

Why we partnered with kitround

Sport has a responsibility to make the best use of the resources it already has. Across the sailing community, many items of clothing still have plenty of life in them but are no longer used. By partnering with kitround, we are helping to extend the life of sports kit, reduce unnecessary waste, and make participation more accessible.

This partnership reflects our commitment to embedding sustainability into the way our sport operates. By encouraging the reuse and redistribution of clothing, we can reduce environmental impacts while supporting individuals, clubs and communities to access quality kit at a lower cost. 

Working with kitround enables us to turn good intentions into practical action, making it easier for members and participants to give pre-loved kit a second life rather than sending it to landfill.

Our objectives together

As signatories to the Sustainable Sports Apparel Charter.

Together, our objectives are to: 

  • Keep sailing kit in use for longer by promoting reuse and redistribution, helping to reduce waste and the demand for new products.
  • Improve access to the sport by making affordable, quality sailing kit available to a wider range of participants.
  • Support clubs and event organisers with practical solutions for managing surplus or unwanted kit responsibly.
  • Help conserve resources and lower carbon emissions associated with manufacturing new products.
  • Raise awareness and drive sustainable kit choices in boating.
  • Strengthen our commitment to sustainability by working with organisations that share our ambition to create a more inclusive, resource-efficient and environmentally responsible future for sport.

kitround can help cut waste and make kit more affordable to improve access to sports like sailing.

Kate Fortnam - Sustainability Manager, Royal Yachting Association

Why kitround exists

In the UK an estimated 100,000 tonnes of sportswear ends up in landfill each year.

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