The Ocean Race aims for equal number of male and female sailors in the event by 2030.

The Ocean Race Aims for Equal Number of Male and Female Sailors in the Event by 2030

The ambitious target is part of Horizon, a new collaboration with The Magenta Project, World Sailing Trust and PA Consulting, dedicated to increasing the number of women in professional sailing.

The Ocean Race, the world’s toughest test of a team in sport, is aiming for a 50:50 split of women and men competing in the round-the-world sailing fleet within the next three editions of the Race, building on its historical leadership position that has seen 136 women take part in the event since 1973.

The move aims for an equal number of men and women competing across the event, whether this is achieved through mixed crews or all-female teams. It is part of an unparalleled collaboration in sailing, with leading sustainability, diversity and sailing organisations, The Ocean Race, World Sailing Trust, The Magenta Project and PA Consulting, which builds on existing initiatives and introduces new pathways to open up sailing to women and young people.

The insights echo the World Sailing Trust’s 2019 Strategic Review into Women in Sailing, which revealed that 80% of women and 56% of men think that gender equality is an issue in sailing, with 59% of women, compared with 14% of men, saying they had experienced gender discrimination.

Viva Mexico in The Ocean Race Europe © Jen Edney/Viva Mexico/The Ocean Race
Viva Mexico in The Ocean Race Europe. © Jen Edney/Viva Mexico/The Ocean Race

Working together, The Ocean Race, The Magenta Project, PA Consulting and World Sailing Trust aim to change perception and improve routes into the industry for women. The Ocean Race will create a roadmap for action, which will feature new and existing initiatives that will be supported by the collaborators. The actions will include recommendations from the World Sailing Trust Strategic Review, such as:

  • A fast-track leadership programme to create a pipeline of female leaders across the sport
  • An equality design working group made up of boat designers, manufacturers, technical specialists and female sailors
  • A diversity and inclusion working group, led by World Sailing Trust

The Ocean Race will also provide shadowing opportunities across race management, with volunteers from local clubs in every host city that the race stops at, and, with The Magenta Project, will develop a women and youth mentoring programme specific to The Ocean Race. PA Consulting will create an equality assessment tool to help the sailing industry measure where they are now and where they can improve, along with a series of Roundtables that will follow progress across the industry.

All stakeholders will also sign the UN Women, Sport for Generation Equality Charter, a powerful multi-sport stakeholder coalition to drive gender equality through sport.

Read more at TheOceanRace.com.

Header image: All-female crew Team SCA © Rick Tomlinson / Team SCA / Volvo AB