WOKC announces OneSails GBR as Development Partner for 2024
Today the Women’s Open Keelboat Championship (WOKC) proudly announces the beginning of a prosperous new partnership with OneSails GBR, the leading global sail-making company. The 2024 championship will take place on 11th-12th May at the Royal Southern Yacht Club, Hamble, with the revived WOKC training day taking place on Friday 10th.
This collaboration marks an exciting venture for both parties, emphasizing a shared commitment to grow female participation in UK sailing. Thanks to OneSail’s involvement, this year’s event will see the revival of the Friday training day and the addition of on-the-water coaching on Saturday. Competitors can expect comprehensive coaching sessions and post-race debriefs tailored for both IRC and BKL fleets.
OneSails is also setting up an apprenticeship scheme so that a handful of young female sailors have the opportunity to learn about sailmaking as a future career, and building a solution that will help tackle the inherent male-dominated brainprint (the collective impact of brands on our human consciousness) issue commonly experienced within the industry. These initiatives aim to provide development opportunities for female sailors and start tackling the lack of confidence that particularly young female sailors regularly experience on the sailing circuit.
WOKC are working with male boat owners to lend their boats to females for the event to help increase the number of boats available, and have added a transitional non-IRC Development Class where male boat owners will be allowed onboard in non-crucial positions. As has been the case in recent years, the 2024 event will incorporate the British Keelboat League women’s qualifier, allowing teams without boats to ‘rock up and race’ RS21s in a short-course schedule format.
In an effort to build a meaningful network amongst new and existing WOKC participants, WOKC are setting up a community platform. The goal is to allow female sailors to find a team for the event, but also interact, share job opportunities, discover crewing opportunities, and ask for advice in what is traditionally a male dominated industry where who you know is as important as what you know.
Nathan Steffenoni, Loft Manager for OneSails South GBR, says, “We are passionate as a brand about driving gender equality forward and helping eliminate any obstacles to participation both out on the water but also within the industry itself. By partnering with WOKC, we are hoping to extend our reach in terms of what can be achieved and we look forward to being involved.”
Emily Robertson, Committee Chair of WOKC adds: “As a team, we are excited to partner with OneSails GBR to bring more development opportunities to women at the championship and within the WOKC network. Bringing on board a new development-focused partnership will help us to re-align with what’s important, which is providing a platform for women to get on the water, grow confidence in the company of other female sailors and compete at the highest level against women from across the UK.”
If you would like to enter your boat, find a boat to race on, look for crew for WOKC or are interested in the apprenticeship scheme run by OneSails, please email the WOKC Committee on wokc@hotmail.co.uk
For more information about OneSails please contact: Alexis Eyre, +44 (0) 7881 104616, alexis@greeneyre.com
About OneSails Sailmakers
OneSails is a global sailmaking network of 52 sail lofts worldwide with an international headquarters in Italy and two lofts in the UK (Ipswich and Hamble). Run by a group of passionate and experienced sailors, OneSails has a wide range of products for boats ranging from dinghy classes to ocean and offshore sailing yachts.
OneSails is the exclusive manufacturer of 4T FORTE ™, a continuous yarn composite delivering quality, durability, and performance. The glues, resins and solvents used in the sailmaking process have been replaced by heat fusion, and the base polymer is 100% recyclable in a standard waste separation process. Launched in 2015, 4T FORTE ™ sails and accompanying sail recycling process were awarded ISO 14040 Life Cycle Assessment Certification. 4T FORTE ™ are the only fully recyclable sails on the market today.
Located in Hamble-le-Rice in Hampshire, the OneSails (GBR) South sail loft is part of the global OneSails group. Overseen by experienced sailors Nathan Steffenoni and Wilf Chaplin, the team at OneSails (GBR) South specialises in custom sails and covers for boats ranging from dinghies up to superyachts.
More information: www.onesails.co.uk
About Women’s Open Keelboat Championship
The inaugural Women’s Open Keelboat Championship was founded in 2008 by a group of passionate female sailors who wanted to compete in challenging racing against other women. Over the years, the team and vision behind the regatta has evolved, as has the world around it. Today, WOKC is focused on growing the participation and development opportunities, and subsequently the quality, of female sailing in the UK.
The committee is made up entirely of volunteers, and donations of support, time and charity raffle prizes are all gratefully received. The event is non-profit making with all proceeds being fed back into the event or to the year’s nominated charities.
More information: https://www.womensopenkeelboatchampionship.com/