FC Barcelona star and Spanish national teamer Ferran Torres amazed sailors with his football juggling act recently during a visit to the Alinghi Red Bull Racing base. Ferran stopped through on behalf of his work with Kick Out Plastic and for the opportunity to meet with the sailors and shore crew.
Ferran spoke with members across Alinghi Red Bull Racing about the Kick Out Plastic mission before getting a tour of the base. Afterwards, the team pledged to work with Ferran and his organization on future initiatives together.
During the visit led by skipper Arnaud Psarofaghis and cyclor Franco Noti, Ferran was shown Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s solar-powered water filtration system. It’s a unique system installed last summer that uses reverse osmosis technology to filter the water straight from the port for drinking and other everyday uses in the Team facility.
“Kick Out Plastic’s mission is about eliminating plastic waste,” said Ferran. “It is important to meet with others to share our actions and goals. When I come across people that in their own way are directly contributing to the sustainability of our water, I am always amazed and enthusiastic.”
Initially imagined by Dan Smith, a boat builder at Alinghi Red Bull Racing, the water filtering system was a way to address the severe water situation in the region by making the Base to be completely self-sufficient in its water usage. “Our system filters out everything from bacteria to hydrocarbons, which is basically the compounds in boat fuel, and makes the water drinkable,” said Dan.
After a trip out on the water with Franco to watch the sailing, Ferran left his signature behind on a FC Barcelona jersey and signed a pair of boots that will become part of Alinghi Red Bull Racing’s new wall of fame in the top floor lounge. He also put on a short juggling show that could have gone on for hours. He simply never lets the ball hit the ground.
“It was an honour for me to take Ferran around. I watched him a lot during his time at Manchester City and we had the chance to speak a bit about life as a professional footballer, said Franco. “For me as a person, sustainability is important and at home, I’ve adopted some habits in my daily life to reduce my personal footprint on the earth.”
“It was an amazing day out on the water.” said Ferran. “I am from Valencia but I was quite young during Alinghi’s win, so I don’t remember much. I will cross my fingers for the Alinghi Red Bull Racing team later this year during the America’s Cup.”
More upcoming collaborations with Ferran and specific actions to support Kick Out Plastic will be announced soon by Alinghi Red Bull Racing.
