Svein Rasmussen, born Arendal 5 June 1963 .
3 x European champion and 4 times world champion in windsurfing, 2nd pre Olympics 1983, then 10 year on the Professional Windsurfing tour with 5 medals and one event win.
Svein founded Starboard in New Caledonia / Thailand 1994.
The brand won 14 our of 15 PWA Constructors titles in windsurfing , while its iQFoil equipment was selected for the Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Olympics .
Svein got into paddleboarding and Starboard SUP has won more titles than any other .
He brough home Norway’s first medal in the sport during the 2019 ICF worlds set at the Olympic venue in Quindao
Starboard also became and environmental partner with the ICF that governs paddle sports.
To engage in more watersports, Svein included Airush Kiteboarding, Severne Windsurfing and lately AK durable supply Co and Freewing wingfoiling in the Sestar group portfolio.
Sestar is certified B.Corp company and a Fair Labor Association affiliate.
The Starboard brand signed partnerships with Parley for the Oceans , WIF, United Nations Technology innovation lab, and runs Trash Hero BKK activities every Thursday .
Starboard introduced POP, the worlds first Plastic Offset Program , collecting over 250,000 kg of beach / ocean litter. This private initiative is now on its final stages for VERRA certification
The brand has planted over 1 million Mangrove trees in the VCS certified WIF Blue Carbon climate park and according to the annual carbon footprint report, is the brand 10 X climate positive ,
setting a new standard in the climate discussion.
Starboard launched the Btiki token the the Celo blockchain in colab with Social stack, a pioneering step to create value for future fighters.
Starboard won the World Sailing 2020 sustainability award.
Since World Sailing governs all sailing activities on the planet , Svein sees this award made out of recycled Americas Cup carbon components , as the best celebration of the brands values.
To bring Starboard’s environmental engagement and solution onto streets world wide, the apparel brand SOMWE was born in 2021.
The brand uses only certified organic cotton and for each garment sold, one mangrove with VCS certificate is planted and 1.1 kg of ocean / beach plastic is collected.
The ultra environmental brand is at least 10 X carbon positive in an industry that responsible for 10% of the worlds CO2 emissions and the majority of Ocean micro plastic pollution.
In 2012 Starboard built 2 Tiki schools with 600 elementary school students and also set up a medical clinic to aid local communities In Dawei, Myanmar.
Svein and his wife Jeab still lives in Thailand and has one daughter, Mayar Rasmussen.