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Poster Short Abstract

Maccaferri Futura Onboard Science Project tests how small racing boats can host low-cost devices to monitor for essential Ocean parameter. This case study shows how sport and industries can easily embed participatory science, expanding data collection and awareness.

Poster Abstract

Marine citizen science is increasingly recognised as a valuable means to address critical gaps in ocean monitoring. With climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss intensifying, the need for broader, low-cost data collection is urgent. Offshore racing boats, often operating in remote regions, present an underused opportunity to expand monitoring capacity, yet most initiatives remain centred on large, resource-intensive vessels rather than enabling smaller boats and their crews as active citizen scientists. The Maccaferri Futura project addresses this challenge by exploring how small racing sailboats can be equipped as affordable, effective monitoring platforms. A Class40 yacht was outfitted with low-cost sensors and micro-sampling devices co-developed with scientific and industrial partners. These tools, integrated directly with onboard navigation systems, allow non-experts to collect oceanographic parameters such as temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and pH, as well as water and air samples to detect contaminants and marine-emitted molecules. Designed for simplicity, robustness, and compatibility the case study demonstrates how collaboration between stakeholders is essential in bringing citizen science to the next level, embedding into maritime sports and industries, and creating pathways for broader uptake by the sailing community and beyond. The impact of the project lies not only in generating new datasets but in showing that ocean observation can become a natural extension of boating itself. By lowering barriers to participation, Maccaferri Futura highlights how professional offshore sailing can help close data gaps and support collective action for ocean protection.