Woman Leading and Sailing Trophy | 25-26 March 2023

Wednesday 8th March – For International Women’s Day, Yacht Club de Monaco announced launch of a first for Monaco with a brand new J/70 event for women sailors. “It is a very special occasion for us to organise a women-only regatta, a first for Yacht Club de Monaco. We are really looking forward to it,” says Bernard d’Alessandri, YCM General Secretary. It is being organised in collaboration with the French and Monegasque Sailing Federations and in partnership with Xerjoff. “As we share with YCM the same values of vitality, performance and elegance, the luxury perfume firm, Xerjoff, is very proud to support the Pink Wave team and this new regatta to promote sailing to women,” says Sergio Momo, Founder and CEO of Xerjoff.

Pink Wave team on their marks

Pink Wave is a large group of YCM sailors of all levels who sail on different types of boat, including J/70, and are the ones mainly responsible for organising this regatta. Launched four years ago at prize-giving for the Primo Cup-Trophée Crédit Suisse, the Pink Wave team has really taken off within YCM. “Not many of us had much sailing experience and we found that there are very few women racing but lots of boats with male crews. We decided to start from scratch and that everything we did would correspond to the Club’s idea which is to participate. That’s how the Pink Wave team was born,” explains team member Anne Schouten. Having started sailing at the age of 50, she is convinced that women need to make their mark in sports where men still dominate.

 

Twenty teams of a maximum of five crew are expected for the first Woman Leading and Sailing Trophy. “We are working hard to prepare for this all-female regatta in the Principality and are very enthusiastic,” continues Anne. “The WLS is a circuit of eight regattas throughout France, launched by the French Sailing Federation to promote sailing to women. In most countries, there is still a shortage of female sailors. As Pink Wave, we were in contact with the French Sailing Federation from the start and thought it would be fun to do something together. They immediately suggested to YCM that we organise a regatta here”.

 

Packed programme

The Pink Wave team are all set to line up on the start of other regattas taking place in Saint-Tropez, Hamburg and even New York, next September for the Liberty Cup Regatta. They have already competed in several including the J/70 World Championship organised for the first time in Monaco last October.

“Our adventure in competition goes back several years,” explains Anne Rodelato. “We started training on J/70s. I had good experience on this boat but everyone brings their skills and that has been fantastic. We had been sailing together for several seasons and became a proper team capable of competing in such a major event like the Worlds. There are more and more women in this sport, more mixed teams and that’s great. In the early days, you couldn’t even find sailing gear for women. But now we see many women taking part in races, even at the highest level like the America’s Cup. We also see mixed teams and realise that women can bring something extra to a crew”.

 

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