Italy wins inaugural Women’s America’s Cup in tight final against Great Britain
Four-time Olympian Giulia Conti led her crew to victory off the coast of Barcelona, marking a new milestone for female sailors.
Sailing
Italy are the winners of the Women’s America’s Cup – the first edition of the iconic sailing competition to feature an event exclusively for female sailors – after a tight race with Great Britain off the coast of Barcelona, Spain on Saturday, 12 October.
The Italian quartet of Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli led from the start of the 18-minute race and finished eight seconds ahead of British Athena Pathway.
"Speechless, it's just an immense joy really," Italy's skipper and four-time Olympian Giulia Conti said of her crew's victory. "The cohesion of the team is just so unique.”
The final was a culmination of a competition that began with 12 teams, split equally between those sponsored by the teams of the 37th America’s Cup and those that do not have counterparts in this year's event.
It was the first America’s Cup to feature an event for all-female crews in the 173 years of its existence. While women have competed in previous America’s Cup races, men generally dominated the competition, in part due to the lack of female sailors with extensive competition experience and the physical demands of the race.
A new generation of sailboats – the AC40 foiling monohull in the case of Saturday's race – has given new opportunities for women to compete in the elite sailing event. Crewed by two co-helms and two sail trimmers, the AC40 boats do not place the same physical demands on the crew members and thus change the requirements for entry.
The significance of this change was not lost on British skipper and two-time Olympic medallist Hannah Mills who hopes more female sailors will now be able to race at the top level.
"I'm sure this is just the start," Mills said. "For the young girls out there watching, this is happening and it's going to be your turn next," Mills said.