Irish Sailing Pathfinder Women at the Helm Regatta

Hosted by the National Yacht Club

17 /18^th August

NOR: Irish Sailing Pathfinder Woman at the Helm Regatta NOR

DINGHIES & KEELBOATS

For further information, please visit https://www.sailing.ie/Events/Irish-Sailing-Pathfinder-Women-at-the-Helm

There are also cruising opportunities, which will be organised
Entry: https://form.jotformeu.com/90994307715364

THIS IS NOT AN ALL-FEMALE EVENT

Female tacticians, helms and boat owners currently stand out from the crowd in a male dominated sport, we simply want to change that.

The gender gap in our sport, where men and women can compete on an equal basis, widens after the age of 16 to a point where, in the 2019 DBSC Yearbook, a snapshot of Dublin based boats, just 33 of the 231 keelboats show female ownership, and most of those, are joint ownerships with men.

Some fleets have better female participation rates than others, but in 2017 I was struck, that in a fleet of 21 boats at a National Championships, I was the ONLY female helm and one of just five women in the ladies changing room. There are a myriad of reasons for this gap: not least testosterone, boat ownership, time constraints and to some degree women, with plenty of exceptions, are less inclined to trust instinct and ‘just do it’. Furthermore, again with some exceptions, men are less inclined to crew for women, thereby further widening the gap.

The thrust of the Irish Sailing Pathfinder Women at the Helm Regatta is to encourage women to overcome perceived and real barriers and develop confidence to move from shore to boat, from crew to helm and from club to regional event.

Many women already fully integrated in the sport may scoff at the enthusiasm for such an event, but many more others welcome the development of programs and events to encourage female participation and integration. This event is not about Olympic aspirations, nor is it just about participation, but rather as Joan Mulloy (solo offshore sailor) puts it, ‘this girl can’.

The event is NOT an all-female regatta but allows dinghies and keelboats up to 50% crewed by men. Please encourage your class and club sailors to get on board, participate in the regatta and lend out their boats for a fun weekend on the water and ashore at NYC.

Yours,

Sarah Byrne

DBSC SB20 Class Captain

Board Member | Irish Sailing

087 235 8489 | 3 Park Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin A96 K3C3 | l +353 (01) 280 0239 | www.sailing.ie