Grain de Sail

04/14/21 • 27 min

Hoisting the sail, a supply chain podcast

Grain de Sail is a French company charting new waters. We first learned about them in 2018 during one of their exploratory visits to New York and have watched them grow from fantasy to reality to a company to watch.

In our latest episode, we speak to their marketing director, Stefan Gallard, and ask him to explain how the singular dream of two twin brothers grew into a 72 foot cargo sailboat, coffee refiner, chocolate manufacturer and organic wine exporter within a few years.

Highlights of our conversation include Stefan telling us how, despite four weeks crossing the choppy Atlantic, Grain de Sail’s December 2020 maiden voyage to New York successfully delivered 15,000 bottles of French wine without a scratch. We also sail beyond the buzzwords and learn why running a sustainable business is one of their core principles from the first wine harvest to the last mile of delivery.

The big takeaway from this interview is that with vision, elbow grease, smart finances and the right partners, cargo sailboats definitely have a place in global maritime trade and may soon lead the pack to incorporate wind propulsion in many new builds.

Previous Episode

Webb Institute - An American Naval Story

We are always learning from our guests and this week was no exception. Joining us this time is Bradley Golden, Assistant Professor of Naval Architecture at Webb Institute in Glen Cove, New York.
Webb Institute is the USA’s premier undergraduate institution specializing in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. All students are admitted on a full-tuition scholarship and graduate with 8 months to one year of practical experience in the field. Webb graduates go on to fill top positions in many aspects of the shipping industry, from military to design to commercial to policy makers.
In our discussion, Bradley Golden paints a picture of the maritime shipping industry in the United States today. He explains the origin and impact of the 1920 Jones Act, the transformation of the industry toward decarbonization, as well as the opportunities created by the future implementation of wind farms in the New York New Jersey Bight. Bradley opened our eyes to the possibilities in our own backyard and gave us reasons to look to the future with hope.

Next Episode

Fair Winds!

Every cause needs its evangelists and the International WindShip Association has been spreading the gospel of wind propulsion since 2014. As the Secretary General of the Association, it’s up to Gavin Allwright to keep wind propulsion top of mind for commercial ship owners, policy makers and regulators.

The journey to become a leader in advocacy was not smooth sailing, but today, the IWSA’s 130+ membership is taking IMO’s 2030 goals a step further by declaring the years 2021-2030 as the “Decade of Wind Propulsion”, an era of delivering wind propulsion installations, optimizing the technology solutions and helping to facilitate a quicker, deeper and ultimately cheaper transition to a fully decarbonized fleet.

At the heart of our conversation, Gavin presents the motivations and objectives behind the IWSA’s March 24th open letter to the global shipping industry. We paraphrase the key points here.....

1. Establish a Multi-Stakeholder International Working Group to evaluate and quantify wind propulsion’s potential contribution to decarbonize the global fleet in the face of the climate emergency. Promote a hybrid approach to decarbonization with wind propulsion fully integrated with optimization measures along with eco-fuels.

2. Launch a Comprehensive Strategic Review of shipping industry decarbonization efforts in the context of the climate emergency. The review should quantify all externalities including infrastructure development and production costs of all alternative propulsion systems and fuels along with their direct and indirect climate impacts.

3. Ensure a ‘level playing field’ is created and maintained for all power systems, removal of market and non-market barriers as well as fair and balanced allocation of R&D finances and resources in the future.

4. Do more and go beyond the current narrow fuel-centric approach by adopting a fully integrated alternative propulsion approach to decarbonization pathways and policy.

Our biggest takeaway from Gavin is a quote he made toward the end of the interview. He simply asserted “We really can’t be ignoring such an incredibly important energy source that is uniquely available for shipping.”

We could not have said it better ourselves.