SailGP’s first all-women F50 training session takes place in Dubai

DUBAI: SailGP on Friday created a slice of history with the first ever all-women training session taking place in Dubai ahead of the weekend’s showpiece race.

The session took place on board the Switzerland F50 and was coached by team sailing adviser and former Japan driver Nathan Outteridge.

It marked the first time in SailGP history that an all-women crew has sailed together on the F50 and included 12 athletes from across SailGP’s 10 national teams, including Emirates GBR’s Hannah Mills, Switzerland’s Laurane Mettraux, New Zealand’s Jo Aleh and Liv Mackay, and Australia’s Tash Bryant.

Outteridge said it was “a great opportunity” for the women athletes to sail together.

“We had a quick briefing this morning to talk through the playbook of how we would sail the boat and the goal for everyone was to get a chance to be on the boat in a position they haven’t done before.” she added.

Since the launch of the women’s pathway midway through season two, female athletes have raced in all of the SailGP races — us ually in the role of strategist. The league’s ambition is to have a woman driver on the start line for season six.

The training was split into a morning and afternoon session, with the athletes rotating into different positions around the boat.

Australia’s Tash Bryant said she was “grateful” to the Swiss team for hosting the training session.

“We had a good start, no majors, nothing went wrong — I hope we get to do more,” she added.

Launched in season two, SailGP’s women’s pathway aims to create an inclusive sporting championship where the best athletes have equal opportunity to compete on the F50.