Cup stars believe Kiwi women sailors can excel
Exciting SailGP initiative to develop female foilers can be a stepping stone to yachting’s pinnacle event, writes Duncan Johnstone.
TEAM New Zealand stars see no reason why women can’t become involved in the high-paced America’s Cup sailing environment.
Gender equality is a growing force in the global yachting scene. The round the world Ocean Race and the Olympics have made major moves to right the balance between men and women sailors.
The blossoming SailGP league now brings that into focus in the elite foiling department with women added to the squads, initially in a developmental role.
Olympics-bound Erica
Dawson is on the New Zealand SailGP squad along with Liv Mackay. They head to Bermuda this week for the first of eight regattas around the world.
They are in the mix with America’s Cup winners Peter Burling, Blair Tuke, Josh Junior, Andy Maloney, Louis Sinclair and Marcus Hansen.
Junior believes women sailors will eventually get on board America’s Cup boats.
‘‘For sure, times are changing, we’ll see how it evolves over time,’’ he told Sunday News.
‘‘It’s really cool that they are involved and part of the SailGP team. We are really excited as a team of eight to go overseas and take on the rest of the world.
‘‘It’s a bit of a must to get the girls involved in the pro sailing, and we’re lucky enough to have some of the world’s best female sailors in New Zealand. To have them involved in the team, they bring a lot, they are just as good as the rest of us, so I’m really excited about that.’’
Maloney believes SailGP will be an ideal platform.
‘‘It’s the perfect environment to put them into that super competitive, top of the sport playing field. That will help them learn as much as they can really quickly and will help fast-track them.’’
It’s a theory backed up by Burling who feels the only thing holding back women from being in the current America’s Cup scene is a lack of experience on fast foiling boats.
‘‘Nothing is stopping it right now. Rather it’s the skill and knowledge gap that’s the problem,’’ Burling told Newsroom recently.
‘‘We’re doing our part to help bridge that gap and give women the chance to compete at the highest level of our sport.
‘‘These things take time, but we’ll do everything we can to help fast-track that, and improve the skills and knowledge of our female sailors. It’s something Blair and I are incredibly passionate about.’’
Dawson hopes she can grab her opportunity in SailGP, and use it as a stepping stone to the sport’s pinnacle event.
‘‘For sure, that would be pretty cool,’’ Dawson said.
‘‘Hopefully the things that we learn here are all going to be relevant to getting a career going in that direction.’’
She applauded the SailGP initiative, led by Kiwi yachting great Sir Russell Coutts.
‘‘It’s a great step in the right direction for women in sailing. It’s just the beginning of it for SailGP with a long-term view of getting a whole lot more women into the championship. It’s exciting times and exciting to be leading the way for a lot of the women in New Zealand and around the world.
‘‘Working in such a big team and such a professional environment, I’m sure I’m going to learn a lot.’’
Dawson is no stranger to foiling. She will sail the twohanded Nacra17 foiling catamaran at the Tokyo Olympics in a mixed crew with Micah Wilkinson.
She has been on the Nacra17s for two years, having switched from the high-paced 49erFX skiff.
Originally on the helm, she now works as crew, handling the main sail upwind and the gennaker down wind, while also playing a vital role in the rather rudimentary balancing act of maintaining the right foil height, mainly through body position on the windward hull.
While the hugely physical grinding roles will be out of the question for the women, Dawson believes she can transfer her skills across to 50-foot foiling catamarans that exceed 50 knots, almost double the 27 knots top speed she has hit on the Nacra17.
She feels she could operate as a flight controller or wing trimmer. Dawson and Mackay will face an intense time in Bermuda, literally getting up to speed with their new environment. It will be a settling in period more than anything, and she has already been doing her homework.
‘‘I’m so excited. It’s an amazing opportunity, so I’m going to jump at it and give it everything,’’ she said.
‘‘We have the boat manual we’ve been looking through trying to work in advance how things work. There’s a lot to take in, it’s different to anything I’ve sailed before, it’s high tech. We are going to see how things go, nothing is set now.’’
Dawson said Burling and
Tuke were great examples of sailors who could jump in any boat and make it go fast, transferring knowledge from different classes.
She was also impressed by their genuine enthusiasm around this initiative to boost women’s sailing.
‘‘They are really behind it, not just for us, but for women’s sailing in New Zealand in general,’’ she said. ‘‘They are really keen to help develop a really strong group of women, and create these opportunities to be up there beside them.’’
‘It’s just the beginning of it for SailGP with a long-term view of getting a whole lot more women into the championship. It’s exciting times and exciting to be leading the way for a lot of the women in New Zealand and around the world.’ ERICA DAWSON