Rules Proposals 25-10 Women’s Regattas Wind Limit

I’d like to congratulate Paola for her proposal to set a wind limit specifically for women’s races. This is an important step toward promoting safety and encouraging more women to participate in competitive sailing.

It’s a fact that, in general, women have less body weight and muscle strength compared to men. Adjusting race conditions to reflect this reality doesn’t diminish the competition—it creates a fairer and more accessible environment. With limits that respect our physical characteristics, the sport becomes safer and more appealing, allowing more women to develop and excel in sailing.

I hope this proposal moves forward and inspires other events to pay attention to the growth of women’s fleets!

I am in support of this proposal. There are several reasons that I support this in addition to the reasons in the proposal:
- the limits are always SUSTAINED over 15 knots - as we know in windy conditions, puffs are always higher
- these events are often hosted with mostly chartered boats. A lower limit will reduce damage risk as well as make it more likely individuals and organizations will offer their boats for charter
- the Women's Worlds, while competitive at the top, is also intended to be inclusive for experience in the boat and age of sailors. It has been an event that promotes women to sail who may more often crew.

Best regards,
Lisa Pline
Past participant in 7 Women's Worlds, future participant in 2025!

I agree what Paola Prada said.

YES!!!!. Flota 154. Valencia, Spain

I agree with this proposal and it is important on inclusion of women from all parts of the world considering countries with an average small size women.

I am in support of this proposal and in agreement with the reasons listed by Lisa Pline. In addition, I feel the 15 knot wind limit supports participation by women's youth and master teams and mixed age teams (e.g., U30 siblings or peers, master-master, mother-daughter).

Grace Fang (age 62)
Participant in 2023 Master Worlds, 2023 Women's Worlds, 2025 Women's Worlds planned

Hello!
I agree with the proposal to lower the maximum wind speed to 15 knots because it would increase participation in women's championships. Thank you.

I support the limit proposal. I believe it might increase participation, and it will certainly make races safer and more attractive to women.
Att.,
Viviam
Brazilian sailor from ICRJ.

I totally agree with the proposal and all the c9mments above. We had to face 25 knots races a few times and it was quite dangerous. I gave up on some of them.

I support that proposal too. Lower the maximum wind speed to 15 knots will increase women participation in championships. Congratulations, Paola!

I am in support of this proposal. Lower the maximum wind speed limit for 15 knots will increase women participation in championships. Congratulations, Paola!

As a woman who has been sailing Snipe for 24 years, I disagree with this suggestion. Many women sail in the all-seasons in any wind, and between 15 and 18 knots, the difference isn't in the strength, but in the boat's trim. We've already eliminated one upwind leg, reduced the race time, and reduced the number of races per day... there will come a time when it's not worth traveling because of the low chances of sailing…

Apoyo esta propuesta y coincido con las razones expuestas. el límite de viento de 15 nudos favorece la participación de equipos femeninos juveniles y de máster.

I don’t agree, I think limiting the amount of knots favors smaller women teams. While there are many tall ladies liking to sail together in more heavy conditions. Keeping it like it is, makes it more fair to all kind of different teams. Die hards will sail no matter what 😉
On top of that, having 15 knots as limit will increase the possibility of invalid regattas.

I don’t support this proposal.

1) I don’t see why we should lower the limit even more. There is already a lower limit put in place. Women sailors of all sizes can sail in strong winds. Smaller teams have advantage in light winds and bigger teams have an advantage in stronger winds. Bigger teams who go fast in light winds have a lot of skill. Smaller teams who go fast in strong winds also have a lot of skill.

It’s about trim and skills. That’s what the sport, and snipe sailing, is all about.
This would only increase the advantage of lighter teams even more. I really don't think that's fair.

2) There's an immence ammount of mixed teams. Looking at recent regattas, the amount of women racing is steadily increasing, sometimes having more women than men in the race. And they sail above 18 knots, no problem.

3) A possible choice of the race committee could be to shorten the leg, or use a triangle course.

4) With weather conditions changing all over the world, this will reduce our chances of going on the water and have a splendid time racing.

I DO NOT support this proposal.

1) There is already a lower limit put in place. Women sailors of all sizes can sail in strong winds. Smaller teams have advantage in light winds and bigger teams have an advantage in stronger winds. Bigger teams who go fast in light winds have a lot of skill. Smaller teams who go fast in strong winds also have a lot of skill.
It’s about trim and skills. That’s what the sport is all about. That's what snipe sailing is about. In snipe, you can easily adjust your mast trim so you can de-power.

It would be better to organize clinics for everyone to understand how to adjust the trim to the weather conditions. Or some short videos. I'd be glad to help with that.

I know some of you think this would increase participation...but it could also scare away the more experienced teams who worked hard to figure it all out and love a championship with all kinds of weather conditions.

2) A possible choice of the race committee could be to shorten te leg or use a triangle course.

3) With weather conditions changing all over the world, this will reduce our chances of going on the water and have a splendid time racing. We have been having a lot of championships with not enough or too much wind lately... this will only close the window of opportunity even more.

Hope to see you all soon, in 6, 10, 14 or 18 knots ;)
Charlotte from BEL

Even if I haven't taken part in any international competitions, seems like a positive news.
These updates may encourage more women to participate and excel sailing.

I fully support reducing the maximum wind limit for women’s sailing races. Safety must always come first, and high winds pose greater risks, especially considering physical differences that can impact endurance and injury rates. By lowering the wind limit, we ensure fairer competition, allowing skill and strategy to prevail over sheer strength. This change would also encourage more women to participate, fostering growth in the sport while maintaining an exciting and competitive environment.