Amid a bobbing sea of high-tech racing boats — some 71 crafts in all, representing the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain and Japan — the modest green flags flown by three boats from Hawai'i attracted unusual attention at the recent International 14 World Championships in Long Beach, Calif.

"People were curious," said Andy Bates, 57, who sailed one of three Hawai'i entries at the prestigious competition. "They'd come up and ask what the deal was about the green flag with the globe."

Call it passive promotion. Call it soft-sell activism. Call it environmental advertising for the environment. Whatever those flags did, it worked. To every query from a curious passerby, Bates repeated the same message: "It's for clean water and clean air."

And in the end, it really was that simple.

Bates, Harold von Sydow, Steven Grimes and Ed Murphy had all made the trip from Hawai'i to California to compete in the biannual, seven-race event. Murphy was forced to leave early because of a family illness, but von Sydow (43rd place), Grimes (45th) and Bates (49th) all notched respectable finishes.

Of course, placing well wasn't the only purpose of the journey. Working with the Global Sports Alliance and local sponsor Horizon Lines, the Hawai'i contingent did their low-key best throughout the race to encourage fellow sailors to respect and protect the environment.

The Ecoflag Movement began in 1999 with the idea of inspiring people to take action on behalf of the environment by having competitors display the green "ecoflag" at a variety of sporting events around the world. Since then, the ecoflag has been raised by everyone from sailors to volleyball players to Greek pankration wrestlers.

Shipping company Horizon Lines championed the cause in Hawai'i, joining with local yacht clubs to initiate a local ecoflag program and develop special programs for junior sailors. Bates said it was Horizon (which also sponsored the recent Pacific Rim Championships) that made the California trip possible by offering container shipping for the boats at a discounted rate. In return, all Bates and his mates had to do was fly the ecoflag at the race (Bates did more than that: He displayed the logo on the hull of his vessel and on T-shirts).

"It's very low-key, not aggressive at all," Bates said. "We just fly the ecoflag when we compete and people come to us. We don't want to push it, just state it."

Bates said the message is readily appreciated by sailors, who he says are "more in touch with the wind, the water and the environment" than are some recreational motorboat operators.

"When you're going loud and fast, it's hard to appreciate nature," he said.

Bates has long practiced what he now quietly preaches. When he sailed to Hawai'i from San Diego in 1998, he made sure his 40-foot sloop made as little impact on the environment as possible. The retired naval officer and International Studies instructor at Hawai'i Pacific University has spent much of his life on deck.

He started sailing when he was 6 years old on an El Toro built by his father, also a competitive sailor. At 13, he moved up to the lightweight dinghies called International 14s, the speed and handling of which Bates compares to "a souped-up surfboard with a sail on it" — or better yet, a high-performance race car.

"They're racing boats," he said. "You wouldn't take a Formula One car out just for cruising. It's just too difficult."

Bates still enjoys the competition — at Long Beach, he even engaged in some light-hearted trash talking with some of the younger sailors he beat — but his focus is now on encouraging and developing younger sailors.

With the help of Horizon Lines representative Kelly Murata, Bates and others have worked to provide young Hawai'i sailors with opportunities to improve their skills and advance in the sport.

He said he's encouraged by the growth of young sailors like 17-year-old Justin Doyle, an up-and-coming competitor who teamed with von Sydow at the Long Beach event.

"There are great (developmental) programs at the three local yacht clubs and at Pearl Harbor," Bates said. "But we want also want to encourage them to find out what the next step is."

And, of course, Bates and his fellow ecoflag sailors want to make sure that the next generation continues to respect the waters they traverse.

"The water here is just stunning," Bates said. "We have to do our part to keep it that way."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.