Women to race men in Sail Grand Prix

To optimise for archiving, the original image and related documents associated with this article have been removed.

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

Swimming legend Phelps demands change in USA Swimming’s governance

23-times gold medallist swimmer Michael Phelps has highlighted USA swimming’s weak leadership, governance failures and concerning safeguarding record, and is calling for a systematic overhaul

Read More

Job Opportunity | Investigator - Sport Integrity

Sport Resolutions has an exciting opportunity for an individual to join its passionate, diverse and experienced case management team as an Investigator. The successful applicant will work primarily on Sport Integrity matters but may also assist with the development of the National Safeguarding Panel (NSP) and our wider safeguarding work. The Investigator will play a vital role in ensuring that disputes are managed fairly, efficiently and cost-effectively

Read More

Norwegian ski jumpers accused of deliberately tampering with kit

The International Ski Federation has revealed that Norwegian Olympic champion ski jumpers Marius Lindvik and Johann Forfang, as well as three team members have been charged with tampering with the athletes’ ski suits during the World Championships. The team members have conceded to intentionally doing so after being caught, but the athletes themselves have said that they did not know about the manipulation

Read More