World Sailing aims to break records with 2022 global women’s sailing festival

World Sailing is aiming to break records this year with Steering the Course – its global women’s sailing festival – following its successful debut in 2021.

With events staged in 27 countries last year, Steering the Course – aimed at providing opportunities for women and girls to get into sailing and encourage pathways into coaching and race management – reached major milestones.

These milestones included St Kitts and Nevis – one of seven Caribbean country hosts – becoming a flagship event when the Honourable Hazel Brandy-Williams, Junior Minister for Health and Gender Affairs, opened its two-day Steering the Course festival encouraging women and girls to discover their ‘marine backyard’ dressed ready for the water.

Australia also ran its first National SheSails Leadership Conference, while Iceland chose to spotlight the launch of its first all-female crew to circumnavigate the island as part of Steering the Course.

“We saw regattas, windsurfing, kitesurfing and e-sailing events, as well as virtual forums with female Olympians and sailing industry role models – and we saw many ‘try sailing’ days, which have now transformed into regular sailing classes thanks to popular demand. This is exactly why World Sailing launched Steering the Course,” says Catherine Duncan, training and development executive at World Sailing.

David Graham, CEO of World Sailing, comments: “Creating opportunities for women and girls to get into sailing – and throwing the spotlight on the incredibly diverse career opportunities in this sport – are key to participation now and to future generation sailors and sailing enthusiasts. We’re all set to make Steering the Course even bigger and better in 2022.”

World Sailing is inviting all sailing organisations around the world to sign up to Steering the Course 2022 for a total of 20 days of activities across two festivals:

• Northern Hemisphere, 20-29 May
• Southern Hemisphere, 30 September-9 October

Steering the Course was launched in 2021 with support from the IOC Development Fund. In 2022, World Sailing will be self-funding this initiative as part of its global strategy to increase the participation of women and girls in sailing and related activities.