Coaching at The Championship: Crews Get an Insight into What it Takes to be a Volvo Ocean Racer!
The Magenta Project will be at the Dubarry Women’s Open Keelboat Championship this weekend, putting five teams through their paces.
As part of their mission to advance women in the sport of professional sailing, Sara Hastreiter, Abby Ehler and Libby Greenhalgh from The Magenta Project will be on board coaching promising female sailors. They will spend a day with the crews helping to build teamwork, communication, sail trim and boat-handling skills, as-well-as passing on their experience gained with Team SCA during the last Volvo Ocean Race.
The Dubarry Women’s Open Keelboat Championships is a weekend regatta for yachts crewed solely by women, hosted by Hamble River Sailing Club with 15 yachts taking part this year.
Abby Ehler says: “This event has been running since 2008 and is now a firm fixture for sailors from across the UK and further afield. The ambition when it started was for women to compete in challenging racing. That vision firmly fits with our own ambition as The Magenta Project, to see the percentage of professional female sailors competing in premier events increase from less than 3% to more than 10% by 2020.”
As well as providing coaching, The Magenta Project’s Libby Greenhalgh will be giving a weather briefing on Friday evening followed by a talk given by Abby Ehler about the Volvo Ocean Race and how Team SCA developed strategies to work successfully together.
The Magenta Project has been set up by the 13 members of Team SCA: The first all-female team in twelve years to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race.
The sailing team was so overwhelmed by the support they were given during the race that they feel a strong sense of obligation to their supporters to not only continue as role-models themselves but to help other young women to realize their own ambitions within the world of professional sailing; continuing the momentum that was created through SCA’s opportunity.
It has evolved into a global campaign backed by top sailors and organisations worldwide.
Liz George: +44 (0) 7866 364966
Follow us @TheMagentaProj
