News Around the World
No sooner had Kevin Escoffier started trialling his new orange Imoca than a takeover of his sponsor PRB Group by the huge Swiss conglomerate Holcim meant that it was back into the shed for a full ‘redec’ in a tasteful new blend of greens and blues. His new Imoca started life as an Ocean Race project for another skipper, but the boat’s build in the UK was halted when the money stopped arriving from the previous owner. The part-completed hull and deck of the Verdier design were then shipped to France where the Guillaume Verdier design was finished. Whatever colour his boat, Escoffier is hoping for a less exciting Vendée Globe than last time
us every resource to do so, so it’s understandable that we had to stand on our own with this one,’ offered Ainslie on an early morning call. But the link is there. It’s a great time to launch with rich pickings aplenty in a fast-coming
generation of athletes, according to Mills, the world’s most decorated female sailing Olympian: ‘It does feels like the moment to make a step change and really push for a proper pathway for women and youth into the elite, professional side of our sport, particularly to get more people foiling and continue to help to invigorate our sport.’ Scratch one level down, though, and the real mission is to win the
first ever Women’s America’s Cup due in October 2024, while also providing a groundbreaking gender-neutral winning team for the Youth AC which it’s hoped will be a blueprint for rival groups. ‘It’s a great message to send and it’s my hope that other entries
will follow our lead… although there’s no stipulation in the rules for them to do so,’ opined Ben Ainslie at the launch. Monies from an anonymous sponsor provide the initial funding to get going, with further support from some generous Royal Yacht Squadron members. For sure, the women who succeed in making the cut aboard the
ETF26 (Easy to Fly) that the team will use for training and racing on the European circuit through 2023 will be prime picking to crew the Ineos Britannia AC40. And with that boat due imminently, as the second deliv- ery out of McConaghy’s in China, after the Kiwi boat, the Athena Pathway Programme will soon be a busy place for an exciting new generation. The core crew were introduced at a traditional Cowes photocall with
Hattie Rogers, Nicki Boniface and Hannah Diamond joining Hannah Mills as the initial faces of the programme; with the current Olympic cycle concluding only very shortly before the Cup itself starts, it’s these women that we are going to see a lot more of in this specialist discipline. A showcasing of the ETF26 itself up and down Cowes Green was
proof-positive that a new foiling generation have arrived, and the team quickly decamped to Weymouth to continue training. Anyone eligible can apply to join the Athena programme –the roles are not just sailing, shoreside there’s a wealth of other opportunities on offer. Flying under the burgee of Royal Yacht Squadron Racing, the entity through which Britain’s most storied yacht club is entered into the
22 SEAHORSE
America’s Cup as the Challenger of Record, the new Athena Pathway is surely a shot in the arm for future British participation in other pinnacle sailing events. Meanwhile, talk to the other America’s Cup teams and most plans
remain at the embryonic stage. The British, and possibly the Kiwis, could well be stealing a march for AC37 – where the AC40 teams will now be based apart out of Port Olympic, the rapidly regenerating man- made harbour that rather went to the dogs after the Barcelona 1992 Games. With the nightclubs, casinos and bars gone or going, this area promises an attractive alternative to the paranoia and security of the ‘senior’ Cup teams dotted around the commercial port. The AC40s will, for sure, be a spectacle especially with fleet racing
scheduled before the business-end of the regatta ensues; those ‘skills gaps’ that are being rapidly breached have a subtext that could even (perhaps) see a few more female athletes on some AC75s in the future. Ainslie himself is wedded to the present physicality of the Cup boats
but knows the times, they are a-changing: ‘I think we have to keep a physical element to the America’s Cup as pushing athletes to their limits is compelling. Also, up until now getting the time on the boat for women and youth sailors to develop has been pretty limited.’ Mills goes further: ‘In the future I think that the Cup will benefit from
looking like it has progressed much further, with female athletes onboard. And there’s really no good reason why not.’ With Britain’s laudable commitment to fielding a gender-neutral entry
in the Youth America’s Cup as well, the opportunities for female athletes from these isles have never been better. The Brits are coming for the Cup in more ways than one. Magnus Wheatley
AUSTRALIA Buzzing and beautiful It started back in Sydney. I was sitting in the domestic airport lounge waiting for the flight when I started to notice something. Everybody was smiling. Everyone. And as the minutes ticked down to our departure call, the crowd swelled and the vibe grew. We were on our way to Hamilton Island Race Week.
ELOI STICHELBAUT
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