Women Skippers, A Staple Of Bermuda Gold Cup, To Race Open Match Racing Worlds For First Time
Courtois, Östling set to shatter another glass ceiling
HAMILTON, Bermuda (Oct. 19, 2020) - Another glass ceiling for women in sailing will be shattered next week at the 70th Bermuda Gold Cup and 2020 Open Match Racing World Championship when two accomplished female skippers - Frenchwoman Pauline Courtois and Anna Östling of Sweden - will race in the Open Worlds for the first time ever.
Women's crews have been regular entrants at the Bermuda Gold Cup since the regatta was reformatted to a ladder-style tournament in the mid-1980s. Successful racers such as Betsy Allison, Sally Barkow and JJ Fetter of the U.S., Bermudian Paula Lewin and Klaartje Zuiderbaan of the Netherlands are among those who have tried to tackle the International One-Design (IOD) sloop on Hamilton Harbour.
In the past two years Lucy Macgregor's Team Mac from Great Britain posted back-to-back fourth-place finishes, the best showings ever by an all-women's crew at the famed regatta.
The Open Worlds, however, have long been the domain of men. Never has a woman skipper raced in the Open Worlds, let alone two. Next week, that record changes.