Yachts & Yachting — March 2018

KONRAD FROST/VOLVO OCEAN RACE; ONEDITION

the Magenta Project, we are asking a

lot of different fleets to consider how

they can encourage more women.

“For instance, the J/70 class has

had a crew number limit unlike the

Etchells class, which has a weight

limit which opens the door for

smaller guys as well as women.”

The project is looking for funding to

offer opportunities to emerging female

sailors to upskill and gain experience.

Meanwhile, Dee Caffari, skipper

of Turn the Tide on Plastic in the

current VOR is sailing with five men

and five women. “For me almost all

my recent sailing has been in mixed

crews. It’s the quickest way to learn,

from people who are better than you.

The guys have more experience, so

they have more opportunities, so if

you can sail alongside them you pick

stuff up so much quicker, so for me,

itwouldalwaysbeamixedcrew.

“Physicality is always going to be an

issue, so you need to be clever in the

roles you put people in, so you play to

your strengths, but if you’re an all-

male, all-female or mixed crew you do

that anyway. To make a boat go fast,

everyone, navigator, helmsperson, a

trimmer, or bow, must do their job well,

that is what is important, not whether

you’re a male or female doing it.

“If you choose to do the VOR, you

are a tough enough character anyway;

it’s not for the faint-hearted, so if you

want to do the VOR, you will do it

whether you’re stood alongside a group

of guys, or girls or a mixed group. It’s

about the character, not the gender.

“If opportunities are created,

like in this race, the girls are

queuing up to take them.”

BUMPS IN THE ROAD

Overall,themovebytheVolvoOcean

Race has spearheaded positive progress.

Butthenewconcepthasn’tbeen

entirely smooth sailing. During the leg

into Cape Town, Scallywag posted an

uncensored video to the race’s social

media, which put 39-year Dutch sailor

Annemieke Bes, the only female sailor

onScallywagatthetime,atthecentreof

quite a stir. The video divided opinions

on whether the questions posed to

Bes constituted workplace sexual

harassment or just tasteless boat banter.

After a third-party complaint to

World Sailing, they referred it, under

Rule 69 to the International Jury.

Bes, three times Olympian, with

two Fastnets and two Sydney-Hobarts

under her belt, gave us her viewpoint:

“I’vedonealoadofoffshoresailingin

mixed crews. The video didn’t cause

me any discomfort. I watched it again

inCapeTownandstillIdon’tseeany

issue with it. Some people do, and I

think we must respect them of course

butitissurprisingtomethatpeople

from outside can initiate a Rule 69

protest. What actually offended me

was the suggestion that went out that

Iwassexuallyharassed.Theynever

checkedwithmeifthatwastrue.”

The International Jury dismissed

the protest but clearly, lessons

will have been learned.

Brisius commented on the offending

video posting. “The key thing for me

wasthatitwasremoved.Itwasupfor

Above

Annemieke

Bes,the female

crew member

at the centre of

the Scallywag

video scandal

ELSEWHERE

It’s not just the VOR where

women are working their way

into the spotlight through various

offshore campaigns. Take multiple

paralympian, Hannah Stodel,

campaigning towards the Vendée

Globe 2020; long-standing Class

40 campaigner Miranda Merron;

and Lisa Blair, who completed

the Sydney-Hobart race with the

first all-female crew in 16 years.

Wendy Tuck, winning skipper

in the last Clipper Round the

World Race and current leader

in the 2017 race, comes from a

different place but has a similar

view. “I have done many ocean

races as the only female on the

boat and I haven’t had a problem

• I just want to get on with it and
  go sailing. Women-only boats
  have their place, in the early part
  of careers. Sometimes women
  will feel intimated by younger
  guys who are more gung-ho.”
  And some sage advice: “Don’t
  make a big deal out of being a
  woman, just be a crew member.”

GENDER EQUALITY OFFSHORE

The video didn’t cause me discomfort... What

offended me was the suggestion I was harassed

a very short time on the VOR channel

and it was then removed. I think we

should just consider it a mistake and

of course, we are very sad if it offended

anyone, we don’t want to do that.”

The on board reporters will continue

to gather content in the same way,

but anything potentially sensitive will

now be flagged up for extra checks.

“Let’s not lose sight of the bigger

picture,” says Bes. “In the Volvo fleet,

all the boats now have mixed teams for

the first time ever. I am really pleased

and very proud to see more women in

offshore sailing. The skill level is going

up quickly now in this VOR especially in

the girls from SCA. Their last race entry

has put them on the fast forward track.

“Ideally, in the future, questions about

women will not be asked, because it

won’t be interesting anymore; it will be

too normal to have women in a mixed

team at the top level of our sport.”

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22 Yachts & Yachting March 2018 yachtsandyachting.co.uk