Irish Sailing are the national governing body for sailing, power boating and windsurfing. Our aim is to develop, support and promote sailing in Ireland.
Gender blindness is one of the unsung attributes of sailing in Ireland. From a young age, boys and girls compete against each other in a mixed environment. Some of our top sailors are women, including 2016 Rio Olympics silver medallist Annalise Murphy. There’s always room for improvement though, and we know how important it is to keep women in sailing (and all sports) throughout the teenage years, and that’s one of the reasons why we support the 20×20 movement presented by the Federation of Irish Sport.
The first Irish Sailing Pathfinder Women at the Helm took place this August in the National Yacht Club, Dun Laoghaire, with 61 boats and well over 200 people taking part. The aim of the event was to encourage more women into positions of leadership on the water. We believe that their experiences as helms will have a direct effect on their life off the water – in terms of leadership, self-belief and reliance, independence and quick thinking. The event was a huge success and “All Female Crew” prize was won by The Lady Caroline, a J24 boat from Sligo Yacht Club. The team was helmed by Rachael O’Dwyer who said “we entered because we’ve all been sailing with mixed teams and we never get a chance to helm. We wanted to show everyone, and ourselves, what we can do”.
Check out the film from the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkDziTbGuL0