Team SCA announce The Magenta Project

Team SCA © Rick Tomlinson

Team SCA, the only all-female team in the 2014-15 Volvo Ocean Race has today launched The Magenta Project in a bid to continue the legacy created by the team and begin its search to find a commercial partner to see women, once again, compete in the world's toughest ocean race.

As the race came to a close Team SCA had sailed into the history books by being the first female team in 25 years to win a leg of the race and securing third position overall in the stadium-style, fast and furious InPort racing.

But perhaps the team's most profound legacy is the enormous fanbase that grew during the race both online and at stopovers around the world. Team SCA's ambition to be competitive amongst a male dominated fleet struck a chord with both women and men. They were able to show that by empowering women to perform at the highest level, and that with dedication and by managing the physical and mental challenges throughout the race, they were able to give inspiration to people in many ways.

The Magenta Project's objective is to continue this legacy by striving to provide a pathway for professional female athletes to compete at the highest level of sport. They want to continue to inspire and challenge stereotypes by performing in the sport's most elite events, with a goal of seeing women competing in the next Volvo Ocean Race.

"It is imperative that we continue to race at a top level to ensure that the investment both of the team and SCA, is not wasted. In the last Volvo Ocean Race we started behind the other teams but through a lot of hard work and learning from our mistakes we proved, towards the end of the race, that an all-female team can be competitive. To go again next time will ensure that the world sees that women can be part of this race and this sport, and be on the podium," comments Sam Davies.

"The last race was the beginning of something big, but for this to continue to develop we must not stop. We need to keep racing at top level throughout the sport and encourage other women to get out there too." She concludes.

"It is exciting to start this project and we intend to make a long-term change in this sport for women. Our short term goal is to establish a sailing program that will continue to develop our skill set by taking part in high level events over the next 18 months," comments Libby Greenhalgh. "The ability to compete directly against men is something that is unique to very few sports and the aim with this interim program is to ensure that we are as competitive as possible for the start of the next Volvo Ocean Race."

Team SCA proved hugely successful for SCA, the Swedish global hygiene and forest products company, reaching and exceeding all their objectives for the project and helping to strengthen the perception of SCA as a modern consumer-orientated company. With their decision to not participate in the next Volvo Ocean Race, The Magenta Project is now looking for a new commercial partner.

Earlier this week it was announced that members of the Magenta Project had been given a Tour Card to compete in the World Match Racing Tour. This is the first time in its 22-year history that the WMRT has awarded a Tour Card to an all-female team.

"We're incredibly excited and honoured to be awarded a Tour card for the 2016 season. It's been a dream of ours to race on the World Match Race Tour for over a decade. Now finally, the time is right. We have built a strong international team and after racing around the world, we can't wait to get back out on the water," commented skipper Sally Barkow, USA.

www.themagentaproject.org