Ten years of the Magenta Project

As a new survey highlights the major challenges women still face in the marine industry, the Magenta Project has launched the 2025-26 edition of its successful mentoring program. Story by Viveka Herzum for Yachting Monthly.

The Magenta Project, founded in 2015 by members of Team SCA from the Volvo Ocean Race, works to increase equity in sailing and to provide development opportunities to women sailors. Mentorship covers eight distinct pathways: Offshore, Inshore, Foiling, STEM, Media, Leadership, Race Management and Race Support. Since 2018, the mentoring program has helped 300 mentees receive support from over 100 industry professionals. The incoming 2025-26 cohort will have the program’s most diverse group of participants to date, with 18% of mentors being male.

Victoria Low, CEO of The Magenta Project, stresses that mentorship is a collective effort. “Mentoring is not a solo project; it’s a discipline. We’re proud to see this program double in scale and evolve each year, while also being open to collaboration with other global mentoring initiatives,” she says. “Together we can build something stronger than any of us could achieve alone.”

Other recent initiatives from the Magenta Project include an industry-wide survey into equity and inclusion in sailing, which ran from July to September 2025. The survey highlighted that 62% of respondents have experienced sexism within marine spaces, while 46% have felt unwelcome at a sailing club or event. – Full story