Female sailors "have welcomed a rule change in the Volvo Ocean Race that should ensure mixed teams become the norm while opening the door for more women to take on the challenge," according to REUTERS.
The event announced this week that for the next edition of the round-the-world race in '17-18, any team choosing an all-male crew "would be limited to just seven sailors."
In a move race organizers said "was designed to provide a clearer pathway for women to top-class offshore sailing, other possible crew combinations are seven men plus one or two women, five men and five women, seven women plus one or two men, or 11 women and no men." Volvo Ocean Race CEO
Mark Turner said that the move "was necessary to ensure the race did not revert to being an all-male event." Turner: "Sailing is one of the few sports where men and women can compete together and I’m determined to ensure we get the best sailors in the race -- both male and female."
The stage race, which lasts eight months, "relies on crew being able to sail at full intensity around the clock for several weeks at a time, meaning having more sailors on board can provide an important advantage." Britain’s Dee Caffari, who in '06 was the first woman to sail solo and
non-stop the "wrong way" around the world against the prevailing winds, said, "This is fantastic news for elite female athletes not just in sailing, but in sport as a whole." Spain’s Tamara Echegoyen, an Olympic Gold Medalist in '12, said that "the move could encourage in-shore specialists like her to make the sometimes daunting step up to professional offshore sailing." She said,
"It's a great opportunity. It opens up a very exciting door to me for the future" (REUTERS, 10/16).
