“My voyage was born out of passion to surf the world and find a way to live lighter on the planet. And this film was created thanks to collaboration and support from loving friends and companies. I hope it inspires you to hear the callings of your heart.”

Liz Clark

About Liz Clark… in her own words

I learned to sail at seven years old in San Diego, California on a little red sailing dinghy. At ten, I completed a 5,000-mile, 6-month cruise in Mexico with my family on our sailboat, The Endless Summer, experiencing a different culture, the freedom and beauty of sea travel, and opening my mind to horizons beyond my hometown reality. I credit the origin of my environmental concern to my exposure to the contrasting landscapes of grave pollution and radical natural beauty in Mexico.

Albeit very young, this trip profoundly impacted me. Two things were clear when we returned to San Diego in 1990: I wanted to protect the natural world from human destruction and, one day, I wanted to be the captain of my own sailboat.

At fifteen, my love of the ocean and natural athletic inclination led me to try surfing. Soon after, it was all I wanted to do. Determined to excel in the sport, I spent all my free time in the water and eventually started competing. I surfed in private contests and for the UCSB surf team while studying at UC Santa Barbara. My competitive career culminated in a win at the NSSA Nationals, making me the 2002 College Women’s National Champion. Although I enjoyed pushing my level of surfing through competition, I was more inclined to chasing nature saturated, exploratory surf experiences. I enjoyed surfing most for the adventures leading to remote breaks, the connection with the elements, and the opportunities for self-discovery. I was full of bigger questions that needed answers.

I began taking surf trips during summers and school breaks to Barbados, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Hawaii, Mexico, Nicaragua, and a ‘study abroad’ trip Australia. As I finished up my degree in Environmental Studies, I remember feeling frustrated by the direction the world seemed headed. Our distance and apathy for the natural world and failure as a country to seek and promote environmentally sustainable living left me disappointed and frustrated. I clung to my dream as a ‘way out’.

My surfing obsession further fueled this fire. The pressures of increasing crowds and urban pollution made the idea of a free-ranging life on the sea seem even more appealing. After graduation, I crewed on different boats to gain experience for about a year, and then spontaneously came upon the chance to become the captain of my own sailboat. Thanks to the generosity of my friend and mentor, Barry Schuyler, along with support from my family, Swell and I were united.

Through this stroke of serendipity, my intense determination, and the generosity and advice of innumerable people in Santa Barbara and beyond, Swell was converted into an ocean-worthy vessel. For almost three years, I worked with local professionals–mechanical, rigging, sail repair, radio, fiberglassing, and others, learning and overhauling each of Swell’s vital systems in order to prepare myself and my ship for sea. Only having sailed the boat a handful of times during this busy preparation period, I honestly didn’t know whether I would be capable of a captain’s tasks and responsibility. Although the uncertainties ahead petrified me, the alternative of not going seemed even more unthinkable. And so in October of 2005, I pointed Swell’s bow south from the Santa Barbara harbor.

Over the 20,000 nautical miles of ocean I’ve sailed since, I’ve discovered that the most important sort of exploration happens within. The enormous sense of fulfillment I’ve gained from following my dream, delving into self-awareness, and living a simple life close to nature motivates me to continue sharing my experiences in hopes of the same for others.

A few powerful lessons I’ve learned along the way:

• We really do have immense inner power to create the life we desire and manifest our dreams.
• By using the challenges and adversities in life as opportunities to grow and learn, something positive can come out of almost any difficult situation.
• We’re all just doing our best, so instead of pointing fingers or placing blame, it’s always more useful to look within for solutions.
• Practicing relentless positivity and loving-kindness has the power to completely change one’s reality.
• WE ARE ONE! Nature, humanity, and all life on Earth are inextricably and fantastically connected. Seeking to understand and participate in this Greatness is not only a path to immense personal fulfillment, but also to healthy, peaceful planet and a populace that could exist in harmony with nature!

The post Steer With your Heart: A film from the Voyage of Swell appeared first on Sail Universe.

At 40 years of age, the South African Kirsten Neuschäfer completed an eight-month long journey, alone in the face of the elements, without contact, collecting rainwater to survive. Her feat is all the more impressive as her world tour was marked by a rescue. In the heart of the Indian Ocean, she helped Finnish sailor Tapio Lehtinen. Kirsten welcomed him on her boat before he was transferred to a cargo ship and Kirsten continued her journey.

Kirsten’s performance is as unprecedented as it is impressive. The first woman to round Cape Horn in a race last February, she also became the first to win a race around the world. Many in the world of ocean racing are congratulating the South African. Yann Eliès, a regular in the sailing world, praises the sailor who “loves adventure with a capital A“.

“What she has achieved is incredible,” said Catherine Chabaud, the first woman to complete the Vendée Globe (1996-1997). “There is something extraordinary in the air,” said the sailor.

The post Kirsten Neuschäfer Makes history as the First Woman to Win the Golden Globe Race appeared first on Sail Universe.

When Rose heard that Francis Chichester intended to sail single-handedly around the world, he was keen to compete. He attempted to start his journey at the same time as Chichester in 1966, but a collision off Ushant meant he had to postpone the departure of Lively Lady.

Who was Alec Rose

The circumnavigation began on 16 July 1967. On 17 December, after 155 days and 14,500 miles, he arrived in Melbourne where he met his son who lived there. Among the people who came to watch Rose’s arrival was Prime Minister Harold Holt, who disappeared later the same day after going for a swim. Rose stopped once more in New Zealand to repair a damaged mast.

The voyage was closely followed by the international press and Rose’s landfall at 12.33pm in Southsea, Portsmouth on 4 July 1968, 354 days later, was met by cheering crowds of hundreds of thousands. It was 10 days before his 60th birthday. The following day he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1973 Rose was given the honour of firing the starting gun for the first Whitbread Round the World Race. On 17 May 1975, he opened 5th Littlehampton Sea Scouts’ HQ Gordon Hall in Lineside Way, Littlehampton, West Sussex.

Rose’s voyages are detailed in his book My Lively Lady. He wrote a children’s version, Around the world with Lively Lady (1968) and another book My favourite tales of the sea (1969).

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Blind Sailing International is an Organisation to support expand and further the opportunities for visually impaired people competing in the sport of sailing.

 Blind Sailing International (BSI) does this through:

• Supporting international sailing championships.
• Promoting Visually Impaired sailing activities and achievements.
• Providing an information source.
• Providing an opportunity for Blind and Partially sighted sailors to share their experiences.
• Working with World Sailing and the World Sailing Para World Sailing Committee (formerly the International Federation of Disabled Sailors (IFDS)).
• Working internationally with other sailing Organisations to develop sailing opportunities for visually impaired sailors.

HOW DO BLIND SAILORS RACE?

Visually Impaired Fleet Racing:

Blind Sailing International started a class of Fleet Racing which provided visually impaired sailors with a level playing field. Where lack of sight is no longer a disadvantage. Generally we race on keel boats, anything from 22 ft to 30 ft. racing in teams of four people, two visually impaired and two sighted. The helmsman, who is responsible for the steering, is always visually impaired. The tactician is sighted and not allowed to take part in the physical sailing of the boat. There is a visually impaired crew member and a sighted crew member who take care of the sails and trim of the boat.

Sailing takes place in three fleets which allows for totally blind helms to race against each other, while those with poor partial sight race each other and those with more partial sight to compete against one another. Racing in  integrated teams provides the necessary communication between crew members to ensure that competition is as close and tactical as with any other racing fleet. Normal  rules of racing apply.

Blind Match Racing:

The Homerus Organisation developed autonomous match racing for blind and partially sighted sailors.

Sailing to match racing rules, Blind and partially sighted sailors race a matched pair of boats around a course of audio sound buoys, using sound and wind to navigate and make all the tactical and sail trim decisions.

VI Sailor Classifications:

Visually Impaired Sailors are classified by strict guidelines into three groups which are effectively in simple terms:

• B1: No functional sight
• B2: Poor partial sight
• B3: No more than 10% functional sight

Paralympic Classes:

Although sailing is not currently part of the Paralympic Games, in recent quads the three person Sonar keelboat class and the two person Skud keelboat allowed visually impaired sailors to race as part of mixed disability teams. When sailing re-enters the Paralympics, we look forward to having visually impaired sailors competing.

Main Stream Sailing:

Through team work and good communication, visually impaired sailors enjoy the challenge of main stream racing.

This Great Big Story was made in collaboration with Audi.

Great Big Story is a video network dedicated to the untold, overlooked & flat-out amazing. Humans are capable of incredible things & we’re here to tell their stories. When a rocket lands in your backyard, you get in.

The post Blind Sailing International: These Sailors Navigate with Sound appeared first on Sail Universe.

He sailed his LEHG II which was a 31-foot-2-inch (9.50 m) ketch that was designed in 1933. He did not even obtain a radio for the fear of being shot and accused of being a spy. Vito Dumas kept warm by stuffing his clothes with newspaper during this time. In total, he spent 272 days at sea with the odd stop at Cape Town, Wellington NZ, and Valparaiso and Chile. In 1957, he was awarded the Slocum Prize which is considered the most prestigious award for ocean voyagers.

His trips was the longest ever sailed by a single handed sailor to ever make and in the most bizarre conditions.

His boat was to the argentine navy but later it was found to have been abused and shattered on the shore. It was later purchased by a rich Argentine yachtsman who rebuilt the yacht and donated it to the  Argentine Naval Museum in Tigre. To this day that is where the famous LEHG ll is on display for the world to see in a place called River Plate. A short train ride from Buenos Aires.

Not only was Vito Dumas well known for his sailing skills but he also wrote books. He wrote a book about his experience through his journey at sea called Alone through the Roaring Forties (The Sailor’s Classics 5) (Sailor’s Classics Series). The reviews for this book are 5 stars and a fabulous read for anyone interested in history and sailing. It would be a fantastic book to purchase and take on your sailing trips.

If this isn’t impressive enough In his youth Vito Dumas was a profound swimmer reportedly making a 25-hour swim across from Uruguay to Argentina when he was just 23 (wow!). It is believed that his passion for swimming helped him find his love for sailing the deep waters of the seas.

Unfortunately, there is no evidence of his early life as a child and young teenager.

We think it is safe to say, Vito Dumas will forever go down in history as one of the all-time greats when it comes to the topic of sailing, I would also recommend the video dedicated to Vito Dumas on YouTube for more inspiration and a presentation of just how truly amazing this sailor was.

The post Why Vito Dumas is One of the Greatest Sailors in History appeared first on Sail Universe.

If in our famous sailors Top 15 there isn’t your hero, do not worry: write it in the comments below the article!

Peter Blake (1948-2001)
When he made the exploits: 1990, 1994
Sailor and environmentalist. Among the many exploits, Peter is one of the most famous sailors of all time. He won the Whitbread 1989/90 on board ketch Steinlager II and in ’94 the Jules Verne Trophy with Robin Knox-Johnston.

Chay Blyth (1940)
When he made the exploit: 1971
His name is carved in history. He was the first in 1971 to circumnavigate the globe single-handed without stopping from east to west, against the winds and currents, onboard the 59 foot British Steel.

Franck Cammas (1972)
When he made the exploit: 2010, 2012
His records list is very long. We have chosen the Jules Verne Trophy in 2010 and the victory of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2012 onboard VOR70 Groupama.

Francis Chichester (1901-72)
When he made the exploit: 1966-67
Aged 65: the creator of the Ostar sails from Plymouth onboard 16 meters Gipsy Moth IV and launches in the round the world solo, who turns in 274 days. A myth.

Olivier De Kersauson (1944)
When he made the exploits: 1989, 1997, 2004
The king of the multihulls is always a record hunter. In 1989 he establishes the primacy of the round the world solo, in 1997 and in 2004 he won the Jules Verne onboard the trimaran Geronimo.

Michel Desjoyeaux (1965)
When he made the exploits: 2001, 2009
“The professor” won everyhing He made history by triumphing twice at Vendée Globe, the only sailor in the world (in 2001 and 2009 onboard Open 60 Foncia).

Alessandro Di Benedetto (1971)
When he made the exploit: 2009
In 2009, Alessandro Di Benedetto has been around the world in solitary without stopping on the smallest boat ever, a 6.5 m Findomestic, employing 268 days.

Bernard Gilboy (1852-1906)
When he made the exploit: 1882-83
In 1882, Bernard Gilboy sailed a 19-foot (6 m) schooner that he built himself from San Francisco 7,000 miles (11,265 km) miles across the Pacific in 162 days until he was picked up exhausted and starving off Queensland, Australia after a swordfish pierced his hull and he lost the rudder.

Francis Joyon (1956)
When he made the exploit: 2008
He is the fastest one. Joyon holds the record of the round the world solo, completed in 2008 on the trimaran Idec (57 days, 13 hours and 34 minutes).

Robin Knox-Johnston (1939)
When he made the exploits: 1968, 1994, 2007
In 1969 he became the first man to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe and was the second winner of the Jules Verne Trophy (together with Sir Peter Blake). For this he was awarded with Blake the ISAF Yachtsman of the Year award. In 2006 he became at 67 the oldest yachtsman to complete a round the world solo voyage in the VELUX 5 Oceans Race.

Bernard Moitessier (1925-1994)
When he made the exploits: 1965, 1968
Maybe he is the most famous sailors of all time (together with Eric Tabarly). In 1968 Moitessier participated in the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race, the first round the world yacht race. With the fastest circumnavigation time, Moitessier was the likely winner but he elected to continue onto Tahiti again and not return to the start line in England, rejecting the idea of the commercialization of long distance sailing.

Loïck Peyron (1959)
When he made the exploits: 2012, 2014
In 2012 he won the Jules Verne Trophy onboard Banque Populaire V. In November 2014, he won the Route du Rhum single-handed transat on Banque Populaire VII maxi trimaran. He set the new record, travelling from Brittany to Guadeloupe in 7 days 15 hours 8 minutes and 32 seconds (22.93 kts average speed).

Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1921) 
When he made the exploit: 1916
He was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He needed to the crossing of Antarctica from sea to sea, via the pole. To this end he made preparations for what became the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914–17. Disaster struck this expedition when its ship, Endurance, became trapped in pack ice and was slowly crushed before the shore parties could be landed. The crew escaped by camping on the sea ice until it disintegrated, then by launching the lifeboats to reach Elephant Island and ultimately the inhabited island of South Georgia, a stormy ocean voyage of 720 nautical miles.

Joshua Slocum 1844-1909
When he made the exploit: 1895-98
He was the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. In 1900 he wrote a book about his journey Sailing Alone Around the World, which became an international best-seller. He disappeared in November 1909 while aboard his boat, the Spray.

Eric Tabarly 1931-1998
When he made the exploits: 1964, 1980
Maybe he is the most famous sailors of all time (together with Bernard Moitessier). In 1964, Tabarly raced in the Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race on Pen Duick II and won, with a time of twenty-seven days and three hours. In 1980, Tabarly sailed the trimaran Paul Ricard for a transatlantic race, beating Charlie Barr’s transatlantic record. He has been the first sailor to experience the foils.

The post 15 famous sailors of all time. Who is the best for you? appeared first on Sail Universe.

Over the years, some of the greatest French sailors – men and women – have taken part in the crewed round the world race, among them Éric Tabarly, Olivier de Kersauson, André Viant and his daughters Sylvie and Bénédicte, Bernard Deguy, Éric Loizeau, Philippe Poupon, Lionel Péan, Florence Arthaud, Christine Briand, Halvard Mabire, Isabelle Autissier, Sébastien Josse, Pierre Mas, Jean-Yves Bernot, Christine Guillou, Hervé Jan, Alain Gabbay, Michel Desjoyeaux, Jean Le Cam, Roland Jourdain, Eugène Riguidel, Sidney Gavignet, Jacques Vincent, Franck Cammas, Jean-Luc Nélias, Charles Caudrelier, Pascal Bidégorry, Kevin Escoffier, Jérémie Beyou, Marie Riou, Nicolas Lunven and Anthony Marchand. In fact, France is the second most represented nation since the event began nearly 50 years ago, a sure sign of the event’s appeal…

100 books chosen by a future academic and more than 100 bottles of great wine per leg

“In 1973, I competed in the first leg aboard Kriter with Michel Malinovsky in the role of skipper and Jack Grout as owner. Given the atmosphere on board, I packed up my bag and sailed the second and third leg on Pen Duick VI with Éric Tabarly,” said Bernard Deguy, former captain of Commander Cousteau’s Alcyone. At 83 years of age, the French sailor is as fit as a fiddle and has just completed his umpteenth transatlantic passage aboard an 8.50-metre production boat.

After his experience with Tabarly, Deguy came back for another go. “I went on to sell my share of the family property, which didn’t even represent a quarter of the value of Neptune, the boat I’d just purchased,” he said. “I was in debt at that point. Back then, we did things on a shoestring. I was 37 and responsible for all the project management. I was oblivious to what a round the world race was all about. I found the first Whitbread Round the World Race with Tabarly to be relatively easy, so I couldn’t envisage any difficulty in having another crack at it with friends and family members. I believe that if we can climb Mont Blanc together, we’ll also be able to climb Everest…”

Before the voyage, Deguy put together a reading panel with the future academic, Bertrand Poirot-Delpech, and his cousin Michel Deguy, a philosopher and poet. “When we set sail from Saint-Malo and headed to the race start in Portsmouth, each of the ten crew received ten books free of charge and were tasked with reading them… something that would be quite unthinkable today in The Ocean Race. We also had 400 bottles of wine, which equates to 100 per leg – a Bordeaux grand cru gifted by one of former French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing’s brothers-in-law.”

A marriage proposal in Cape Town

Éric Loizeau, a talented young French sailor, climbed aboard Pen Duick VI to learn the ropes with Tabarly, before becoming the skipper of Gauloises 2 (ex Pen Duick III) during the Whitbread 1977-1978. During a stopover in South Africa in the midst of apartheid during the Triangle Atlantique, a preparatory race for the round the world contest, Loizeau was approached by a young woman. “She was a student and the only daughter of Afrikaner doctors, and asked if I would marry her, though not seriously… Indeed, she was keen to use this promise of marriage to a young Frenchman to help her leave her country and a racial policy that so appalled her… A few days later, we headed over to the city hall in Cape Town hand-in-hand, where I signed a few papers so she could obtain her visa. On the day of the race start, we bade each other farewell, exchanging a few loving kisses under the mocking gaze of my crewmates, who were familiar with the story…”

Drawing a veil over amateurism and washing with Harpic

“The Whitbread was already a truly international race by then, not a ‘Franco-French’ type race, but an eclectic, informal mix of multi-millionaires and the stone-broke. With the Volvo Ocean Race came professionalism, which was a big step from what we were doing,” said Bernard Deguy, laughing. “At that stage, we left the ‘informed amateur’ world and stepped up to very strong athletes who were real all-rounders…”

Alain Gabbay, a 23-year-old Mediterranean with frizzy hair, took part in the 1977-1978 edition on 33 Export. Sailed by a somewhat relaxed crew with plenty of pluck, the boat was soon nicknamed ‘la poubelle jaune’ (yellow trashcan) by the French press and fellow competitors, given how filthy it was at every leg finish. Cleaning didn’t seem to be a priority aboard the 1968 Mauric design. At the finish in Rio de Janeiro and before going clubbing, the crew – who were “absolutely humming” – decided to spruce themselves up. There was no toothpaste aboard so they decided to clean their teeth with Harpic, a powerful descaling agent for toilets… How the gums reacted is anyone’s guess, but Gabbay’s talent for racing certainly made an impression, winning over the champagne brand Charles Heidsieck three years later and building a boat specifically for the race, which would see him finish second behind Flyer 2.

“After my initial experience on 33 Export, I’d got my head around a few things,” said Gabbay. “As a result, we laid the foundations for a more professional outfit. We had a boat that we’d chosen, devised, had designed and built, with a partner which had the budget and above all the time to complete a test campaign. We were fairly confident at the start in September 1981 in Portsmouth. There had never been so many entries: 29 crews at the start. I’d selected Gilles Vaton to design Charles Heidsieck III, because he’d worked with André Mauric and had helped me out on 33 Export. The deck was only three millimetres thick. We were already obsessed with making boats as light as possible, which enabled us to save nearly 600 kilos in the structure. The event was run on a corrected time handicap.” Later on, Gabbay would launch Charles Jourdan. On her third Whitbread, Florence Arthaud was notably invited to crew for him.

A male lead by the name of Desjoyeaux

“I first encountered Éric Tabarly through his books. I must have been 10 or 12,” recalled Michel Desjoyeaux. “However, my first face-to-face meeting with him wasn’t until 1984, at 19, when Jean Le Cam, who’d competed in the 1981 Whitbread, invited him over to his house. In the year in question, my friend Roland Jourdain was participating in La Solitaire du Figaro, and Pen Duick VI was the support boat for the race. Tabarly was looking for crew. Jean introduced me to him that day so I could apply. Two days later, we went out for a quick sail off Bénodet. We had to put in a few manoeuvres, one of which involved us hoisting a large genoa with the clew flogging around. We’d forgotten to tie a second sheet onto it, which meant it was impossible to tack. I quickly clambered up to the clew, holding on with one hand and tying a bowline with the other, and then I promptly climbed back down. Éric looked at it and said: ‘it’s good, let’s tack.’ He took me on.

“Above all, you learned not to get annoyed and not to fear the elements,” added Desjoyeaux. “I remember sailing flat out in the Indian Ocean in massive seas. We’d just blown out a spinnaker that was more than 300 square metres. Éric asked: ‘what do we have left in the way of spinnakers?’ There was a smaller one and a much bigger one. He said: ‘OK then, we’ll hoist the bigger one.’ I think we ripped that one too later on. Nothing ever scared him.”

The rest is history. French sailor Desjoyeaux competed in two Whitbreads with his master, before going onto become the most successful solo sailor of all time, winning three Figaros, the OSTAR, the Route du Rhum and two Vendée Globes. ‘Mich Desj’, like a number of French racers, ranks among those who have experienced the Whitbread, later renamed the Volvo Ocean Race and today known as The Ocean Race, as well as IMOCAs. He’s not alone, as Sébastien Josse, Marc Guillemot, Charles Caudrelier, Kevin Escoffier, Pascal Bidégorry, Jérémie Beyou, Nicolas Lunven… to name but a few, know an IMOCA inside out.

Jérémie Beyou: “an addictive race!”

Jérémie Beyou, another triple Solitaire du Figaro champion, won the last Volvo Ocean Race in 2017-18 as part of the crew on Dongfeng Race Team skippered by Charles Caudrelier. “I quickly understood that it was an addictive race, just as Carolijn Brouwer (crew aboard the boat) had told me,” said Beyou. “I’d done a fair amount of crewed sailing at one point… and it was great to get back into it. You’re just there to sail, focused solely on the competition and the water. Not a minute goes by without you snatching back a centimetre here or easing off a centimetre there. In fact, it’s kind of like going back to the basics of sailing, with the synergy of helm-trimmers”.

Charles Caudrelier and his mainstays Pascal Bidégorry and Kevin Escoffier 

Caudrelier is the last French sailor winner of the crewed round the world race, having also won it in 2012 with Franck Cammas. When we asked him about pairing up with Pascal Bidégorry, the navigator who famously took a daring winning option in the final tack to Holland after nine months of racing, the answer was clear: “Pascal was kind of the hardcore of our project, but you have to add Kevin Escoffier to the mix. We were a group of three and it had to work between us. That’s also part and parcel of The Ocean Race.”

Escoffier agrees: “This crewed round the world race in foiling IMOCAs will be just fabulous.”

The post The Story of French Sailors Around the Globe… in Crewed Format appeared first on Sail Universe.

Kiwi Superman Marc Jacobs, 32, has a unique riding style that is ‘beast-mode’ aggressive, powerful, and yet beautifully composed.

Famed for ridiculously overpowered riding, throwing down monstrous mega loops and pushing the limits in Big Air and Freestyle, Marc also dominates the Cable Park.

Growing up in Tauranga, NZ, Marc convinced his Mum to help him buy his first kite at 15. “I feel like kiteboarding is a superpower… I only need a kite, and then I can fly!” 

He spends 2-3 hours a day, six days a week at the gym to keep himself fit and strong, believing you not only need balls, but you have to make sure your body can handle being pushed at such hard forces too.

The post Kiteboarding the South Pacific – Marc Jacobs drone action! VIDEO appeared first on Sail Universe.

The Ocean Race, the world’s toughest test of a team in sport, is aiming for a 50:50 split of women and men competing in the round-the-world sailing fleet within the next three editions of the Race, building on its historical leadership position that has seen 136 women take part in the event since 1973.

The move aims for an equal number of men and women competing across the event, whether this is achieved through mixed crews or all-female teams. It is part of an unparalleled collaboration in sailing, with leading sustainability, diversity and sailing organisations, The Ocean Race, World Sailing Trust, The Magenta Project and PA Consulting, which builds on existing initiatives and introduces new pathways to open up sailing to women and young people.

Horizon, which encompasses roles across the sport – including sailors, boat builders, coaches, umpires and race officials – is launching following in-depth analysis of the state of gender equality in professional sailing by PA Consulting. The consultancy, which specialises in innovation and transformation, interviewed key stakeholders in the industry and found major barriers, bias and systemic issues that limit female participation in the sport.

Interviewee Dee Caffari, the first woman to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions, two-time competitor of The Ocean Race and Chair of the World Sailing Trust, said: “We all naturally trust the people we are used to sailing with, so it is difficult to break into a team. The wind and waves don’t care who you are, male or female, you’re a sailor.”

The insights echo the World Sailing Trust’s 2019 Strategic Review into Women in Sailing, which revealed that 80% of women and 56% of men think that gender equality is an issue in sailing, with 59% of women, compared with 14% of men, saying they had experienced gender discrimination.

Working together, The Ocean Race, The Magenta Project, PA Consulting and World Sailing Trust aim to change perception and improve routes into the industry for women. The Ocean Race will create a roadmap for action, which will feature new and existing initiatives that will be supported by the collaborators. The actions will include recommendations from the World Sailing Trust Strategic Review, such as:

• A fast-track leadership programme to create a pipeline of female leaders across the sport
• equality design working group made up of boat designers, manufacturers, technical specialists and female sailors
• A diversity and inclusion working group, led by World Sailing Trust

The Ocean Race will also provide shadowing opportunities across race management, with volunteers from local clubs in every host city that the race stops at, and, with The Magenta Project, will develop a women and youth mentoring programme specific to The Ocean Race. PA Consulting will create an equality assessment tool to help the sailing industry measure where they are now and where they can improve, along with a series of Roundtables that will follow progress across the industry.

All stakeholders will also sign the UN Women, Sport for Generation Equality Charter, a powerful multi-sport stakeholder coalition to drive gender equality through sport.

Anne-Cécile Turner, Sustainability Director at The Ocean Race said: “Female competitors in The Ocean Race include Olympic gold medallists and world-record breakers. They are powerful role models and ambassadors, but for many, their journey to the top has been fraught with challenges, simply because they are female. Not only are women missing out on opportunities, the profession is also missing out on the skills, strengths and talent that they bring to the table. Sailing can secure its reputation, and its future, by coming together as an industry. We need to build bridges, not work in silos.”

The Ocean Race is an industry leader in supporting women in the sport, with more females competing in the event than in any other sailing competition outside of the Olympics. The Race has been the only other major international sporting event where men and women compete on the same team on an equal basis, with 136 women competing in the race since 1973, including 12 in the first edition. In the 2017-18 edition of the race new rules were introduced that gave teams a major incentive to include women as well as men, a policy that will continue in the 2022-23 race and will see women participate with a meaningful role on every team.

Dee Caffari, Chair of World Sailing Trust said: “The research that the World Sailing Trust conducted in 2019, showed some pretty stark figures on the state of gender equality in sailing. The PA Consulting research has since confirmed that while there is some progress, the sport needs to work much harder and more collaboratively, if we are to bring about change. It will take leading events in our sport, such as The Ocean Race, to continue to turn the equality dial. The Horizon initiative is exactly how we need to be working, so that as a sport, we can collaborate better and address these key issues, and start levelling the playing field. Aiming to increase opportunities and participation levels for female athletes.”

Jonquil Hackenberg, Chair of The Magenta Project, a charity dedicated to gender parity and diversity in competitive sailing, and Head of Sustainability at PA Consulting said: “Sailing is one of the least diverse sports and this needs to change. This collaboration is a vital step towards that and has the potential to alter the face of sailing forever and make it a sport that others can turn to and learn from. The power of this collaboration is that it brings strengths to the fore, where strengths do not need to be physical. With a tangible set of recommendations and a collaboration whereby we at The Magenta Project can bring actionable pathways for aspiring ocean racers, the initiatives focus on the entire ecosystem of the sport, which is the only way to truly embed meaningful and sustainable change.”

IMOCA, one of the two yacht classes that will race in the next edition of The Ocean Race alongside the VO65 class, expressed support for Horizon. IMOCA President Antoine Mermod said: “While we are seeing more females in sailing, there is still a way to go to make the sport truly equal for women and men. We would particularly welcome more females becoming skippers and taking on other leading roles in the industry, so we’re delighted to see a collaboration that focuses on making the sport more accessible to women. The Ocean Race has been a pioneer in this space, we’re looking forward to supporting their ambition to make the event equal.”

Helping to create pathways for women in sailing is the first step in The Ocean Race’s diversity and inclusion programme, which aims to make the event, and industry, more accessible to all. Diversity and inclusion is part of The Ocean Race’s ‘Racing with Purpose’ sustainability programme, which was created with 11th Hour Racing, a Premier Partner of The Ocean Race, and is dedicated to improving the health of the ocean.

*Stat taken from World Sailing Trust’s 2019 Strategic Review into Women in Sailing

The post The Ocean Race Aims for Equal Number of Male and Female Sailors in the Event by 2030 appeared first on Sail Universe.

In September 1973, a young journalist, sent as a cameraman by the ORTF (French Radio and Television Broadcasting Office) to cover the first Whitbread Round the World Race, stepped aboard the French boat, 33 Export, skippered by Dominique Guillet and Jean-Pierre Millet. At 26 years of age, he went by the name of Georges Pernoud and admitted that he knew nothing about sailing. The interminable first leg between Plymouth and Cape Town was no picnic for the future creator of the legendary Thalassa television documentaries about the sea in all her guises.

Sixty-five long days aboard

In the book he went on to write after this experience, ‘Une équipe, un bateau: 13 000 kilomètres dans la course autour du monde à bord de 33 Export’ (One team, one boat: 13,000km in the round-the-world race aboard 33 Export), he admits: “At no point did I find my sea legs. I spent sixty-five long days aboard, four of which I was throwing up everything I could. I also did some night watches with the crew and there I discovered some passionate and fascinating men. Heading off to sea, is essentially about taking a risk…” With his 16 mm camera, Pernoud filmed the daily life of the sailors, the multiple sunsets and some rough weather manoeuvring, ‘processed the film’ and took the rushes back to Paris after making landfall in South Africa.

He felt unable to continue the adventure in the Roaring Forties and the Furious Fifties, admitting that he was frightened when the weather deteriorated. His images were broadcast on the “24 heures à la une” programme and showed shaggy-haired young sailors reminiscent of The Beatles, manoeuvring the boat with the simplest of apparatus, helming under a cobbled-together parasol in the cockpit and smoking in a saloon that was in a worse state than a teenager’s bedroom. These were images that didn’t showcase the intensity of this race around the planet, a race that would go on to become an absolute must and attract the world’s top sailors.

All-terrain American cameras from the Second World War

Like a lot of sailors, Dominique Pipat started out on a 420 dinghy and a Corsaire, but he did not present himself as a sailor, preferring to be a “pictures man,” who was both curious and free. Nevertheless, the mechanical sports enthusiast and born adventurer quickly won over the likes of Tabarly, Gabbay and Poupon. At 30 years of age, Pipat adapted quickly, knew how to be discreet, captured life on board like never before, whether there was five or 50 knots of breeze, and had a real ‘eye’ for a great shot. Armed with his camera, he competed in the entire Whitbread race of 1981-1982, doing the first two legs on Eric Tabarly’s Euromarché and the next two on Alain Gabbay’s Charles Heidsieck III. “I made four 52-minute films back then for Antenne 2 and Les Carnets de l’Aventure,” he recalled. “At each stopover, I returned to Paris to edit the films day-and-night, before heading back to the boat. I shot on 16 mm negatives”. In contrast to today, where the On-Board Reporters are not allowed to participate in a manoeuvre, Pipat could lend a hand to the crew, which notably comprised some young 20-year-old sailors like Jean Le Cam and Yves Le Cornec.

Dominique Pipat: “With Gabbay, you were on watch or you were not aboard”

“Eric (Tabarly) wanted me to film whatever happened, but I did stow my camera away in risky situations,” he added. “He said to me: ‘you’re not bothering me because you don’t take up any more room than a winch and because you bring back images for communications.’” We were jostling for first place with Ceramco, skippered by Peter Blake. We blew out seven or eight spinnakers, but that was par for the course for Eric! However, with Alain Gabbay, during the Auckland-Mar del Plata leg via the Horn, which we won, I was part of the watch system. I did some manoeuvring and I only filmed when I wasn’t on deck. With Gabbay, you were on watch or you were not aboard. With a crew nicknamed “les gaziers” (or “the average Joes”), he blew away the competition, especially in the breeze under spinnaker. It was full-on at times. I didn’t know the boat’s limits, but I trusted the skipper and the crew. I had a ball filming it. I had no fear. It was quite incredible.”

When you ask him if he was a trailblazer for the On-Board Reporters, Pipat turns the words over in his mind, saying that he’d never considered the matter. “There were certainly few images from on board,” he said, “but I’d come from the Atlantic record campaign with Eric in 1980 on Paul Ricard (they broke the epic time set by Charlie Barr in 1905, Pipat bagging a 7th gold for his film). There weren’t many of us that’s for sure. The cameras weren’t well-protected. I used the American all-terrain Bell & Howell models, which were entirely mechanical and hailed from the Second World War landings; they were rustic but reliable. Our most modern battery cameras soon gave up the ghost, busted by the moisture!”

A kite ancestor to the drone for photographing the VO60!

This discreet Englishman, who lives in Cowes on the Isle of Wight, is not just a photographer; Rick Tomlinson is a professional sailor who competed in three Whitbreads.“I’ve always sailed offshore and I began taking photos on the Maxi, Drum, belonging to musician and singer Simon Le Bon,” recalls Tomlinson. His photos were then published in Yachting World, Seahorse Magazine and Voiles et Voiliers. “I then went on to crew on The Card in the 1989 Whitbread,” he added. “I devised a kite to move the camera away from the boat whilst she was underway – obviously, drones weren’t yet a staple back then…”

In 1993, he crewed in another Whitbread on the VO60 Intrum Justitia helmed by Roger Nilson and then Lawrie Smith, but this time his “official” title was photo and video manager. “They were the first boats to have Satcom aboard so we could send images back to shore. A digital camera didn’t exist at that time and I had to process the film aboard using chemicals to get a negative, which I then scanned on a Macintosh laptop before sending it via Inmarsat,” Tomlinson explained.

Films developed in 37.8-degree waterbaths

Imagine developing your films using the C-41 process, namely three successive waterbaths at 37.8 degrees, which cannot withstand a variation in temperature of more or less than 0.2 degrees. Then drying them on a V060 that is heeled over and fully powered-up, in a soaked sail locker which has to be absolutely pitch black. That’s exactly what Tomlinson was up to, when he was not on deck. “At that time, for reasons of fairness between those who had decided whether or not to have a media reporter aboard, you had to choose between photo and video equipment, or the equivalent weight of the equipment in the form of lead pigs,” he said. “Most of the crew favoured the lead option! However, our navigator Marcel Van Triest and I pushed hard to have this equipment aboard the boat.”

On Intrum Justitia, Norwegian Knut Frostad was the youngest member of the crew, with two Olympic selections to his credit. A few years later and after four participations as crew, watch leader and then skipper, Frostad became CEO of the Volvo Ocean Race and decided to make the presence of an On-Board Reporter compulsory on every boat. He went on to manage the event from 2008 to early 2016.

Manoeuvring prohibited

The selection process for the post of On-Board Reporters is seriously hardcore, because you need to be a good, tough and agile sailor, a photographer and a camera operator. Finally, you must also have a knack for writing. “Even if we’re off watch, there’s still plenty to do,” explains Martin Keruzoré, who was aboard Dongfeng Race Team, the winning boat in the last edition in 2017-18. “Each day – and this is the most important part of the job – you have to tell a little story, send a short pre-edited article to race organisation via satellite, along with eight-to-10 photos, plus plan a live broadcast with the skipper or a crew member,” he explained. And that’s not all. The On-Board Reporter contributes to the thankless tasks of life aboard too. “We have to clean the boat like the others, bail water, prepare meals and stack (shift gear to windward) – but only our own stuff, as we cannot assist the crew, by hauling a line or a turning a handle…we cannot participate in any manoeuvre. In essence, we can be a bit of a drain aboard the boat. As a result, it’s important to remain discreet and not to get in the way, but if we offer one of the guys a cup of coffee at night, it’s generally appreciated. The idea is to pull your weight, integrate and win over the crew,” Keruzoré said.

It’s worth adding that it’s important that you don’t suffer from seasickness, that you’re as toned and flexible as a cat, to slip into the aft section of the living pod, and that you can maintain your gear, which isn’t always a fan of water and salt. Like the top racers, the best On-Board Reporters are quickly identified. A good example is Frenchman Yann Riou, a former offshore racer and a member of the performance cell in the Groupama team back in 2010. Riou is the go-to On-Board Reporter after his three Volvo Ocean Race participations, not to mention his drone pilot specialism. And for any budding young racing and image enthusiast who thinks that getting a ride in The Ocean Race and on an IMOCA for the next edition of the race would be a privilege and a fantastic opportunity, a strong stomach is a prerequisite given the staggering performance of the latest foilers.

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