The Volvo Ocean Race finished on Sunday, and for the first time since the round-the-world sailing event began in 1973, a woman was part of the winning crew.
Three women, in fact.
“I think this edition of the race has been a major breakthrough,” said Dee Caffari, the British skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic, “and the fact that every boat is now mixed speaks volumes, and we would never have got that without the rule change. But for me the genuine test of whether this has worked is if in the next edition there are girls actually on crews and if girls are naturally selected, and I am skeptical that would happen if we don’t still have a rule.”
They have won one of the toughest races in sailing, but the race to equality continues.
“We just need to keep this momentum going,” Ehler said. “We need to get to the point where we are being selected for our skill set and not on a gender basis.”