Steering the Course inspires women’s sailing around the world

The second edition of Steering the Course, World Sailing’s global women’s sailing festival, is currently underway in the Southern Hemisphere. To mark the occasion, World Sailing has published four case studies to demonstrate success stories in key areas of the sport and share the blueprints for creating more opportunities for women in sailing.

The four case studies are:

· Snipe Class – Raising Numbers – Taking a look at the initiatives the international class association has taken to increase female participation by encouraging back to the sport by creating a female-friendly environment with women running events and clinics, family events and low-cost charter fees.

· The Magenta Project – Mentoring Programme – Started in 2018, the mentoring programme has supported young women to progress along the sailing pathway by connecting them with women with similar aspirations. This is a predominantly ‘off-the-water’ project focusing on wider development not just hands on skills, and centres around inspiring talented sailors while addressing issues they face.

· Sail Africa – Girls in Sailing – Based in Durban, South Africa, this project supports the Government’s National Development Plan by introducing girls from townships to sailing and water safety. Sail Africa works with schools to host a weekly sailing class, established a Sailing Club at Durban University of Technology and introduced programmes to build a pathway through to competition level.

· Kanto Intercollegiate Sailing Association – Ladies Championship – The regatta is well-established but female participation in university teams has historically been low. A separate women’s event was developed to aid women’s sailing in Japan and has become the sailing ground for many prominent Japanese female sailors.

The case studies can be downloaded in the related items on this page. For more information, please contact training@sailing.org.

Supported by the IOC Development Fund, Steering the Course promotes equity in sailing and encourages more female sailors and coaches to take up the sport.

Following the success of the first edition in the Northern Hemisphere, where sailing clubs from 20 countries ran events which focused on encouraging female participation, 10 more countries have signed up and will be hosting activities from 1-10 October 2021.

If you are taking part in an event during Steering the Course, you can share your photos and videos with us on social media using the hashtag #SteeringTheCourse. Don’t forget to tag @worldsailingofficial on Facebook and Instagram and @worldsailing on Twitter. You can send your content directly to us by emailing content@sailing.org and we will share your content with our followers!