activity or right through to Olympic level.
Sharon’s primary message was to encourage young women with an ambition to move into careers across the industry – as sailors, sailmakers, engineers, designers – but not to sell themselves short. She will concede that some may have to give a little to get in the door, but once they have proved themselves Ferris is very firm that they must then insist on being paid what they are worth. ‘The guys are still much better at that. We are about 30 years behind them, but it is improving. Maiden paved the way and now more women are getting into the Volvo and the America’s Cup, either onboard, or in design and engineering. ‘It was not so long ago that it was considered bad luck to have a woman on a boat. We are talking about 200 years of history here, so it is a big change.’ Looking to the future, Sharon Ferris is also busy establishing a brand new sailing academy aimed at everything from cruisers prepar- ing to go adventuring, to competitive sailors aiming at Olympic and offshore programmes.
Not content to give up competitive racing herself, she has been truly bitten by the multihull bug and particularly the foiling variety, but is also eyeing another ‘Volvo’ campaign. ‘It could either be mixed gender or all-women. It would depend on what the sponsors want, but the goal would be to win…’
But can an all-women crew really win a race around the world? ‘If you look at the Imocas, they are talking of a crew of five. There are definitely five women now with enough experience to take on the five best guys in the world and beat them,’ she nods. As for her ultimate goal, it would be to take on the Vendée Globe. Now aged 45, she says there’s still time. ‘I am lucky to have a supportive husband. At the moment my priority is our daughters, but once they are a bit older I would love to do a long solo race.’ Now that Sofia and Victoria have had a taste of racing themselves they may be a bit more willing to give their blessing to their mother going off in pursuit of her career. Should they then choose to follow suit, they may thank her for working hard to smooth their way… Ivor Wilkins
AUSTRALIA Launched
The SailGP series launched in Sydney with two days of spectacular racing on one of the world’s most iconic harbours, but before that was the bump-in. Sixty-four containers landed at the team bases at Cockatoo Island, commencing the five-event tour, heading to the US and Europe and featuring six foiling F50s – all identical after over 100,000 hours of refit at Core Builders in New Zealand following the Bermuda Cup. The boats now have stored battery power onboard to handle board and rudder pitch, jib trim and wing twist – meaning the grinders are now solely trimming the wing. The F50 is about skill and ability, not pushing around hydraulic oil. High summer in Sydney means turbulent weather, and with temperatures in the mid-30s the sea breeze had seemed to be out in force, giving crews plenty of wide-eyed moments in training as they were getting a feeling for their machines –- plus a grasp of the tight race area off Shark Island. After just days on the harbour Tom Slingsby and team hit 48.7kt training late one afternoon. Just have a quick think about that, and how it must focus the minds of the tacticians making calls at closing speeds of close to 100kt. I hope there was strong coffee at the bases before racing. At the press conference the day before the first race it was inter- esting to see how the skippers were handling the pressure. Tom Slingsby sitting just to the left of Russell Coutts looked calm, but he had an energy buzzing out of him that could have powered a small suburb. Representing his country is massive for Slingsby after years in the Oracle camp, and starting the series at home with a Kangaroo on the wing means a huge amount to his team. Phil Robertson from NZ is helming the Chinese boat, and he had an honest appraisal of the days ahead, revealing ‘It is a pretty daunting thought, lining up on Sydney Harbour for the first time with six boats going at these speeds.’ Along with Slingsby, the other Olympic gold medallist in the line-up was Nathan Outteridge skippering the Japanese boat, an extraordinary athlete among extraordinary athletes. When you ask Nathan a question he takes a second or two longer to respond than most sailors, which I think is due to him processing
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