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An international women's professional sailing series has been around for the past five years but it's been a difficult circuit for New Zealand sailors to crack into.
A Kiwi crew featured in 2013 and a handful of sailors have popped up on various entries over the years but the tyranny of distance and money has made it challenging.
A group of youngsters are trying to overcome these obstacles and will compete in the Helsinki regatta of the Women's International Match Racing Series at the end of June, the first of four events so far scheduled for the year.
The New Zealand Women's Match Racing Team of Celia Willison, Charlotte Porter, Paige Cook, Alison Kent and Erica Dawson were invited to compete after sending a letter off to the organisers seeking an invitation.
"We have done a number of regattas through the [Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's] youth training programme so got the ranking up but not high enough to get entry to these regattas," Willison said. "We sent off a letter along with our sailing CVs asking for a shot and they came back and said we could do one.
"It's the best female match racing competition there is so it will be so different to what we normally sail against but it's a really good opportunity to sail against some of the best and also make some contacts. We want to be in the top half in Finland and eventually get the ranking up into the top 20."
Willison, who helms the crew, is presently ranked 65 in the world. The 19-year-old was part of the winning team representing the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club who won this year's Hardy Cup at the Youth Match Racing Regatta in Sydney and last year helmed the crew that placed third at the Marianassess Women’s Match Racing Regatta, also in Sydney.
Porter (main) and Cook (trim) both have experience racing in the WIM Series and Cook and Kent (bow) have sailed with the Magenta Project, who are committed to creating equal access and opportunities for women in sailing.
Getting to the Finland event is an expensive exercise and the New Zealand Women's Match Racing Team have funded as much as they can personally as well as sought support from various organisations. They recently set up their own givealittle fundraising page and have been humbled by the donations received so far.
This year marks the sixth consecutive season of the WIM Series, the world’s first and only women’s professional sailing series founded in 2012. The series will take in Finland, Sweden, Russia and the US Virgin Islands and there are hopes of adding more events this year and one of the series events will also plays host to the Women’s Match Racing World Championship.
One of the features of the series is the requirement to sail different boats at each event - usually 20-30ft in length and designed for five crew - and J80s will be the boat of choice in Helsinki.
It's not the only regatta on the agenda for Willison and her crew and they're also targeting a women's regatta in Australia, which is the only ranking regatta in Australasia. More opportunities are opening up for women in professional sailing, and the work of the Magenta Project and rule changes to events like the Volvo Ocean Race have been instrumental in this.
"It's really motivating," Willison said. "Things are changing and more opportunities are opening up."
It would certainly do no harm if they can impress in Helskinki.
- To support the New Zealand Women's Match Racing Team's campaign to Helsinki, go to their givealittle page here.
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New Zealand Women’s Match Race team:
Celia Willison, 19 (helm) - Winning team at Hardy Cup Youth Match Racing Regatta 2018. 3rd place Marianassess Women’s Match Racing Regatta in Sydney 2017. (RNZYS YTP)
Charlotte Porter, 19 (main) - Competed in Busan Match Cup 2017 (WIM event), winning team NZ Womens 50:50 Keelboat nationals in 2017. (RNZYS YTP)
Paige Cook, 25 (trim) - WIM series (2013), 2017 sailed with Magenta Project on Turn the Tide on Plastic. (RNZYS YTP graduate)
Alison Kent, 23 (bow) - 2017 Rolex Sydney to Hobart on Climate Action Now with the Magenta Project.
Erica Dawson, 23 (pit and tactics) - Campaigning in the 49erFX Olympic class. 13th at 49erFX worlds in 2017.
