Women's World Match Racing Tour announces strategic partnership with The Magenta Project
by Women's WMRT 15 Oct 13:29 BST
World Sailing Women's Match Racing World Championships © Hannah Lee Noll
The Women's World Match Racing Tour today announced a new strategic partnership with The Magenta Project, the award-winning global charity founded in 2015 to promote and build greater equity and inclusion for women in the sport of sailing and the wider marine industry. The Magenta Project will be named as an Official Charity Partner of the Women's World Match Racing Tour.
The partnership between the organisations will aim to develop new opportunities and pathways for female sailors to become involved in the world of match racing, both at a local level through match racing clinics, and competing on a world stage on the Women's World Match Racing Tour, currently the only all-female global series in sailing launched in 2022.
As well as creating valuable opportunities for sailors, the partnership will also focus on providing initiatives for the Magenta Project community and its members to work in shoreside and on-water roles including event management, race management and umpiring.
"Since we launched the Women's Tour in 2022, our main focus has been on growing the Tour to provide meaningful opportunities and an equal pathway for women to compete at the highest level of the sport," said James Pleasance, CEO of the World Match Racing Tour and Women's World Match Racing Tour. "The Magenta Project has developed a number of highly successful pathways and programmes for women in sailing over the last ten years, and I am delighted to now add our world of match racing into the Magenta community."
"We are really happy to announce a strategic partnership with the Women's World Match Racing Tour" added Victoria Low, CEO, The Magenta Project. "It seems fitting that in our tenth year, we are again looking to create impact in the Match Racing space, following on from The Magenta Project's 2016 M32 campaign. This alliance aligns with our strategy of growing opportunities for women across the sport by working closely with key events and classes in the sailing sector. Earlier this year we launched the successful Female Leadership Development Programme with the IMOCA class as part of this strategy. We are looking forward to working with the team at WMRT and WWMRT to create more opportunities for members of The Magenta Project community in the Match Racing space, both on and off the water."
The Magenta Project joins existing Women's World Match Racing Tour Official Charity WIMRA (Women's International Match Racing Association), founded in 1996 with the mission to promote women's sailing, female entrepreneurship, global relations and cultural exchange.
Since 2007, under the leadership of US match racer Liz Baylis, WIMRA has championed women's international match race sailing at every level.
"WIMRA is excited to welcome The Magenta Project into the women's match racing space. The Magenta Project's mission aligns perfectly with WIMRA and this new partnership with the Women's World Match Racing Tour will be of great value to all of us." commented Liz Baylis.