The objective is part of the Horizon program to increase the number of women in professional sailing
MADRID, 26 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The organizers of The Ocean Race regatta, whose next 2022-23 edition will start on January 15 from Alicante, have set themselves the goal of achieving parity between men and women sailors in 2030-31 within the ‘Horizon’ program, which aims to increase the number of female sailors in professional sailing.
Since its first edition in 1973, 136 women have competed in the most prestigious regatta on the calendar. The initiative is part of a collaboration between leading sustainability, diversity and sailing organisations, The Ocean Race, World Sailing Trust, The Magenta Project and PA Consulting, and can be achieved by mixed or all-female crews.
The Horizon program, which brings together sailors, boat builders, coaches, referees and regatta officials, has analyzed the state of gender equality in professional sailing through a study prepared by the consulting firm PA Consulting. This consultancy, specialized in innovation and transformation, interviewed the main players in the industry and found important barriers, prejudices and systemic problems that limit female participation in sport.
Britain’s Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail solo non-stop around the world in both directions, a two-time participant in The Ocean Race and president of the World Sailing Trust, stressed that everyone trusts the people they regularly sail with. “It’s difficult to get into a team. The wind and the waves don’t care who you are. Whether you’re a man or a woman, you’re a sailor”, she pointed out Caffari.
For Dee Caffari, World Sailing Trust research in 2019 showed some “pretty stark” figures on the state of gender equality in sailing. “Since then, PA Consulting’s research has confirmed that while there is some progress, this sport needs to work much harder and more collaboratively if we are to bring about change,” she noted.
The World Sailing Trust 2019 Strategic Report on Women in Sailing found that 80 per cent of women and 56 per cent of men think gender equality is an issue in sailing, with nearly six one in ten (59%) of women said they had experienced gender discrimination.
Therefore, The Ocean Race, The Magenta Project, PA Consulting and the World Sailing Trust will try to change the perception and improve the access routes to the industry for women. The Ocean Race will create a roadmap that will include initiatives including recommendations from the World Sailing Trust Strategic Report as an easily accessible leadership program to create a cadre of women leaders across the sport.
In addition, a Design Equality Task Force made up of boat designers, manufacturers, technical specialists and women sailors, and another on Diversity and Inclusion, led by the World Sailing Trust, will be created.
WOMEN ARE “POWERFUL AMBASSADORS”
The Ocean Race will provide mentoring opportunities in race management with volunteers from local clubs at each stage venue and The Magenta Project will develop a mentoring program for women and juniors specific to the ocean race.
PA Consulting will create an equity assessment tool to help the sailing industry gauge where they are now and where they can improve, along with a series of roundtable discussions that will track progress across the industry. All parties involved will also sign the UN Charter for the Quality of Women in Sport.
The Director of Sustainability for The Ocean Race, Anne-Cécile Turner, highlighted that several of the participants in The Ocean Race are Olympic gold medalists and world record holders. “They are powerful ambassadors and role models, but for many of them the journey to the top has been fraught with challenges simply because they are women. Women are not only missing out on opportunities, the profession is also losing out on the skills, strength and talent they bring,” he said.
The Ocean Race brings together more women competing than any other sailing competition outside of the Olympic Games. In the 2017-18 edition, new rules were introduced that encouraged the inclusion of women, a policy that will continue in 2022-23, in which women will participate with a significant role in all teams.
The IMOCA class, one of the two sailing classes that will compete in the next edition together with the VO65 one design class, expressed its support for Horizon. IMOCA President Antoine Mermod said that while more women are being seen in sailing, there is still a “way to go” for the sport to be truly equal for women and men.
“We would welcome more female sailors to become skippers and take on other leadership roles in the industry, so we are delighted to see a collaboration that focuses on making the sport more accessible. The Ocean Race has pioneered on this issue. We look forward to supporting their ambition to make the event egalitarian,” said Mermod.
Achieving parity is the first step in The Ocean Race’s diversity and inclusion program. Diversity and inclusion are part of its ‘Racing with Purpose’ sustainability program, created with its title sponsor 11th Hour Racing, which aims to improve the health of the oceans.