What's taking so long?

“Honestly, my first reaction to the crew rule was a bit of an eye-roll - are we really still having to tell teams to include women?”

That was the quote – from Scottish sailor Joy Fitzgerald – that jumped out at me from this week’s press release from the Royal Ocean Racing Club about the mandated inclusion of at least one female sailor on all the boats taking part in this summer’s revival of the Admiral’s Cup.

Joy’s quote stood out for me because I had precisely the same reaction when the mandate was first announced.

It’s 20 years this year since Ellen MacArthur made headlines around the world when she set a new benchmark time for racing around the world alone. It’s 10 years almost to the day since the all-women crew on Team SCA won the eighth leg of the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race in a campaign that also saw them win three in-port races. They, of course, were following in the wakes of the all-women crew on Tracey Edwards’ Maiden in the 1989 Whitbread Round the World race, Christine Guillou’s EF Education in 1997-98, Dawn Riley’s Heineken in the 1993-94 edition, and Lisa McDonald’s Amer Sports Too in 2001-02.

It’s 30 years since French trailblazers Isabelle Autissier and Catherine Chabaud became the first women to participate in the Vendée Globe and since then there has been a slowly building stream of female solo skippers taking part. Samantha Davies has done the race four times, Pip Hare, Clarisse Cremer, and Isabelle Joschke, all twice. In the last edition in 2023-24 all four of these women – plus Justin Mettraux and Violette Dorange were on the start line.

Let’s not forget Britain’s Dee Caffari, who has raced around the world six times – including one Vendée Globe, two editions of The Volvo Ocean Race, one Barcelona World Race, one Global Challenge, and once the ‘wrong’ way (westabout against the prevailing winds) solo. Last year, Cole Brauer became the first American woman to race around the world solo and attracted a multitude of non-sailing social media fans in the process.

By the way, this is obviously not an exhaustive list of female sailing achievement.

The RORC release justifiably points out the ‘pivotal milestones for women sailors over the one hundred years of the club’s existence’.

In 1929, Baroness André de Neufville became the first woman to join RORC after completing the Fastnet Race. In 1954, Hon. Ray Pitts Rivers broke new ground as the Club’s first female Rear Commodore. Another significant moment came in 1969 when Mary Pera captained Italy’s first Admiral’s Cup team - later going on to become RORC’s first female Secretary in 1972, raising visibility for women in offshore competition.

Nevertheless, RORC admits that there is still much more to do and that despite these achievements, offshore sailing continues to be male-dominated. However, there is still hope. Two of RORC’s senior flag officer roles are now held by women - Admiral Janet Grosvenor and Commodore Deb Fish - highlighting a shift toward a more inclusive and representative club culture.

The majority of female participants quoted in the RORC release echo Fitzgerald’s sentiments.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t initially thrilled about the crew rule requiring one woman on board,” says Brauer who will be racing aboard the Monaco Yacht Club entry Jolt 6 for the Admiral’s Cup.

“It felt like the bare minimum and I’ve often found myself as the only woman on the team. While I respect and enjoy sailing with the guys, I truly believe crews perform better with more women involved. Women are just as talented, just as driven, and they deserve the same opportunities to gain experience and grow.

“It’s not about filling a quota - it’s about recognising skill and building diverse, high-performing teams. I hope that in five or 10 years, we won’t need a rule like this, because the sailing world will naturally reflect the talent of both women and men equally.”

Fitzgerald will be racing on the PAC 52 Final Final, representing the Royal Ocean Racing Club in the Admiral’s Cup. She has a background in physical strength and conditioning, as well as being an offshore and inshore professional sailor.

She raced with Team JAJO aboard their VO65 in the 2023 Ocean Race Sprint Cup. Fitzgerald got her big break racing with Niklas Zennstrom’s Team Rán and recently raced on the J‑Class Svea. Her experience ranges from Maxi Yacht campaigns to the intensity of cutting-edge offshore teams, marking her as a true all-rounder.

“I’ve always sailed alongside inspiring women and never saw it as something that needed enforcing. But I also recognise that this rule has opened doors. For me, it led to joining the Final Final team and becoming part of something that goes beyond just one regatta.

“Offshore sailing is tough, physically and mentally, and I hope this rule helps redefine what strength looks like. Yes, it might start as tokenism for some, but it gives women the chance to prove their value and build a place in professional teams.

“Progress, to me, means that one day we won’t need a rule like this, we’ll just pick the best sailors for the job. But until then, if it helps shift mindsets and create real opportunities, then it’s a step worth taking.”

Abby Ehler will be racing on Black Pearl, representing the New York Yacht Club in the Admiral’s Cup. She is a seasoned professional whose extensive career spans multiple round-the-world races and major global events. She first made waves as bowman and boat captain in the 2001‑02 Volvo Ocean Race aboard Amer Sports Too, and returned to the event in 2014‑15 with Team SCA and 2017‑18 with Team Brunel. Abby has also applied her logistical expertise shoreside at the America’s Cup and SailGP, and was part of Team Holcim‐PRB in the 2023 Ocean Race.

“When I first heard about the crew rule, I had mixed emotions,” she said. “I was encouraged that a major event was prioritising inclusion, but I also worried it might lead to being seen as a quota rather than recognised for ability. That said, we’ve seen from SailGP and the Ocean Race that these rules can open doors and shift mindsets.

“If we want to normalise women in professional sailing, we need this kind of visible commitment. It’s not just about ticking boxes, it’s about changing culture. Inclusion leads to normalisation. The more women we see on the water, in key roles, the more natural it becomes. Five years from now, I hope we’re no longer asking, ‘Why is she here?’ but saying, ‘of course she is.’”

What will be interesting to see once the final crew lists are published is how many boats opt to pick more than the mandated single female crew member. That’s an issue that comes down to the owners and team managers. Will they be far-sighted enough to make their crews more gender-balanced and to accelerate the progress of female sailors at the pointy end of our sport.

I was involved in the 2014-15 edition of The Volvo Ocean Race which was the first edition to require two or more female sailors on board. There was plenty of eye rolling back then too – mainly from the male dominated team organisers and some members of the sailing media. But I was happy to witness just how well the women integrated into the teams and how much better the stories we got to write became with mixed-sex crews.

We are heading in the right direction – even that bastion of male domination, the America’s Cup is thinking of requiring women on board – but why is it all taking so long?