Women to race men in Sail Grand Prix


Women to race men in Sail Grand Prix

Women will race against men for the first time in Sail Grand prix history this weekend.

F50s will now include six crew members enabling Women’s Pathway Programme athletes to race on board with men for the first time. Olympic sailor Hannah Mills said “I’m incredibly excited to be racing this weekend, it's a really great step forward for the female athletes to be in the thick of it, witnessing it all, getting in and helping wherever we can – tactics, strategy, and communications – I am really excited for that. The adrenaline rush is going to be massive, it already is when we do the practice racing. It's also awesome for SailGP to have a strong vision and commitment going forward for the future of women's involvement in the league, it’s very exciting and I can't wait to figure out how we can make it all happen, how we can make it a success and how I can help drive it forward.”

Eight women sailors Nina Curtis (AUS), Katja Salskov-Iversen (DEN), Amelie Riou (FRA), Hannah Mills (GBR), Sena Takano (JPN), Erica Dawson (NZL), Andrea Emone (ESP) and CJ Perez (USA) are preparing to race this weekend with their male counterparts with CEO Russell Coutts sating “It is our responsibility as a global league to ensure we create a culture and sporting championship that has gender equity. It is no secret that there is currently an experience gap among women at the top of the sport and so far this season we have embedded female athletes in each of our teams to gain vital experience. But, we recognize we have to go further to close the gap and work quicker to accelerate change, which is why we are taking this next step. It is imperative to break existing boundaries and create a more inclusive environment.”

You can read the official statement here.

You may also like

View All

IOC to take over gender eligibility criteria previously managed by international federations

The new leader of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, has announced that the committee will take over responsibility of gender eligibility criteria, acknowledging concerns about leaving the issue solely to international federations

Read More

Faith Kipyegon sparks discussion on sport integrity as she attempts to break the four-minute mile barrier using new, unapproved technology

Kenyan middle-to-long distance runner, Faith Kipyegon, is attempting to be the first woman to run a mile in under four minutes with the help of new, unapproved technology, sparking discussion on sport integrity and accessibility

Read More

World Athletics has established a Request for Proposal concerning shoe regulations

World Athletics has established a Request for Proposal covering two services that concern its athlete shoe regulations

Read More

Newsletter Signup

Please enter your email address below: