Women’s America’s Cup was a step forward – but is not endgame for female sailors

The 37th America’s Cup yacht race reached a reliably brutal conclusion over the weekend, but the arguments are just getting started. Debate rages over whether foiling vessels are “real” sailing, if cyclists powering the foils is a masterstroke or a travesty… and the handling of the Women’s America’s Cup.

The first standalone women’s race in the Cup’s 173-year history marks a bold intervention in the name of gender inclusivity. But a separate event is seen by some as regressive, particularly one in shared monohulls half the size of the men’s.

The women’s and youth races were woven into the America’s Cup eight-week schedule in Barcelona, with an incredibly close final in which the Italian Luna Rossa team beat Great Britain’s Athena Pathway, led by two-time Olympic champion Hannah Mills, taking place between two men’s races. Some argue such scheduling meant it was “lost” and “sidelined”.

Shirley Robertson sees it differently. “With Olympic sailing, medals for all-women crews were only introduced in 1988, in Seoul, and this was huge for women in sailing. This is a similar milestone,” says the double Olympic gold medallist who was part of the commentary team in Barcelona. “Scheduling the Women’s America’s Cup final between two key AC75 races meant it was watched by millions.”

By launching a standalone event for female sailors, the America’s Cup has taken a different tack to other sailing events. The Ocean Race has committed to 50:50 gender parity for the 2030 event, while SailGP introduced the Women’s Pathway in 2021, requiring all teams to race with a female athlete in both four- and six-person crew configurations aboard F50 high-performance foiling catamarans.

‘Not my idea of inclusivity’

Yet the two captains in the final in Barcelona see the women’s event as a stepping stone to female sailors competing alongside the men, with Mills asserting that mixed-gender America’s Cup teams “is the endgame”.

Women have been aboard America’s Cup vessels since 1886, when Susan Henn – the wife of owner William – sailed aboard Irish challenger Galatea. Enid Wyndham-Quin, Lord Dunraven’s daughter, was aboard the Valkyrie II in 1893, and Chandler Hovey’s daughter Sis sailed on the winning Rainbow in 1934. But it took time for women who were not somebody’s wife or daughter to break through. Major strides were taken in the 1992 America’s Cup when Dawn Riley sailed aboard Bill Koch’s America3 and, in 1995, Riley captained an all-female crew, which included Leslie Egnot as helm and Annie Nelson on tactics, on Mighty Mary in the challenger series.

However, when San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club – the 2010 victors – elected to race the 2013 America’s Cup in AC72 foiling, wing-sail catamarans, gender inclusivity nosedived. More than any other technological innovation in the history of sailboat design, foiling has transformed the sport, and with four “cyclor” roles to power the AC75s, it limits the spots realistically available to women.

The fact the Women’s America’s Cup was sailed in four-person AC40s with battery-powered foils, eliminating the need for cyclors, was a big point of contention. “When I realised the women’s event was in smaller boats, with battery-powered foils and a crew of four instead of eight, lumped in with the youth event, I lost interest,” says Vicky Climent, a commercial skipper with Sailing Experience Barcelona. “This is not my idea of inclusivity and progress in sailing.”

‘I get emotional seeing women competing’

Faith Dean, a British skipper working with Climent, is more positive. “I grew up competitively racing dinghies in England, so I get emotional seeing women competing in the America’s Cup.”

Of the 48 sailors involved, there were 17 Olympic medallists, and yet Dutch skipper Odile van Aanholt and her team had to train for hours in simulators, only getting time in the vessel at the event itself. In contrast, the victorious Italians were aided by the men’s set-up, as Robertson points out: “With Luna Rossa, the women’s team was embedded and prioritised, with access to the same top coaches, and their example demonstrates what happens when female sailors get support.”

Giving female sailors experience racing these high-performance monohulls has been key and while Mills narrowly missed out on lifting the Cup for Britain, she sees this event as a win for female sailors. “I know people might ask why we need a standalone event, but as a woman sailor, I only want to be on a boat because I deserve to be on it,” she says. “At the moment there is a huge experience gap between female sailors and the men who have been sailing these high-performance foiling catamarans for years. This women’s event is a massive opportunity to upskill women in this type of sailing, and nurture the talent we know is there so that women can race alongside men in the America’s Cup itself.”

Italian captain Giulia Conti echoes those sentiments: “Female sailors want to earn our place on a team. This event was a major step forwards for female sailors, but this is not the end. It’s just a step.”

There is no doubt positives will come from the Women’s America’s Cup in Barcelona. Ben Ainslie alluded to the possibility of this year’s female competitors being selected for the next America’s Cup after his British team had lost to New Zealand in the main event and, as Mills says: “Closing the experience gap between men and women is a challenge, and we’re closer today than we were in August. When I think about all the young girls who have watched this event and been inspired, this is probably what I’m most proud of.”