Is the America’s Cup a men-only affair? The shadows on the Women version

The statements made by Elodie Jane-Mettraux, a sailor from Switzerland., launched by the newspaper La Stampa, in which the athlete on the Alinghi Red Bull Racing force stated that women are underpaid in the America’s Cup, and Alinghi offered her a salary “ten times less” than other professional sailor projects, and the same pay reserved for the Young team, have gone around the world.

As known in fact, the America’s Cup in Barcelona will also have Young and Women versions of the Trophy, the one reserved for women being a first. The news was welcomed in the sailing world when it was announced, however, there are some dark lights that make the affair less than clear.

America’s Cup – The story of an all-male trophy

In the 170-year history of theTrophy, the record of female participation is merciless: we recall as a crew member of America 3 in 1992 drizzler Dawn Riley. There was also Leslie Egnot, skipper of Mighty Mary, a women’s crew that was defeated by Dennis Conner’s Stars and Stripes during the internal defender selections for the 1995 America’s Cup. Before, and after, these episodes, absolute nothingness.

Quite different from what is happening, for example, in the Imoca 60 class, where men and women have been racing for many years now, and where female sailors are able to compete on an equal footing with their male colleagues.

And we come to the present day by returning to the Cup, with the new boat class AC 75 introduced in the last edition. A boat that has agreed with many because of its awesomeness, but to date is precluded for female athletes. There is, of course, no regulation prohibiting women from being hired by one of the teams, but it is also true that the AC 75 is a boat that, with the hydraulic power requirements it needs, has practically half the crew of 8 dedicated to grinder-cyclists.

A role that, by sheer physical strength, is difficult, but not impossible, to assign to a woman since as much power as possible is needed to keep the hydraulic circuits pressurized at all times. However, there would be the less physical “cockpit” roles, such as the helmsman, or the mainsail trimmer (minus the bow trimmer since these could also be forced to generate hydraulic power via the pedals). However, no team has ever considered hiring a female sailor, and this is unfortunately a fact.

Women’s America’s Cup – Why is communication so off?

Elodie Mettreaux raised the question, is the America’s Cup Women really well liked by the unions? The only teams to have announced how the women’s crew will be composed are Orient Express Team France and Alinghi Red Bull Racing. Otherwise there is a deafening silence. No other unions have officially announced who the women sailors will be in the Women America’s Cup, including Luna Rossa on whose website there is no mention of the women’s crew.

To have assigned the AC 40 to the Women America’s Cup is then something that further detracts from the appeal of the event. They are one-design boats; there is no design, that is, they lack that key ingredient that has made the America’s Cup legendary, which is the fascination of discovering the differences between boats. This element alone is enough to take away some of the appeal of the Women regattas, while on the Young front there is at the very least curiosity to see new talent at work as they enter the stage of professional sailing.

Does the America’s Cup then, really want to integrate women into the event after 170 years of absolute male dominance? Why hasn’t a way been found to be able to include female elements in AC 75? The AC 40 and the Women America’s Cup seem to put women sailors in the uncomfortable position of “pandas to defend.”

Would a female version of AC 75 have been possible? We do not have enough technical knowledge to argue how such a craft can be practically adapted to an all-female crew, but if we have gone so far as to fly a boat at 50 knots on the water there is surely a way to run an AC 75 even with a crew that is not all-male, at the cost of losing some speed with a smaller sail plan (as is the case, for example, in classes such as the ILCA Laser where women race with slightly less sail area than their male colleagues ed.) Yet this did not happen, and into this scenario comes Elodie Mettreaux’s complaint.

Dear America’s Cup, one can hardly say that in your history the inclusion of female athletes has been the first of your concerns. But perhaps it would be time to ask the question, and to really invest (salaries included) in a totally equal event to the men’s version, or at least to promote the inclusion of female figures inside the sailing teams. Something needs to be changed, and fast: painting the façade of the event pink when inside there is a 170-year history declined only in the masculine sense is certainly not enough.

Mauro Giuffrè