Inspire more women to sail and race

A 17-year-old Quebec sailor, Jasmine Pernot, wants to inspire women to get on board and lead in the racing world. To do so, she is setting off to be the youngest skipper of a mostly female crew during a new race called the 2026 St-Laurent 400 on August 6

Pernot says women have traditionally not been skippers and that even today, they often take on secondary roles on board. “I want to prove that we can all do this,” says Pernot. “I have an almost all women crew besides Daniel.”

Daniel Bérubé is an experienced sailor, and instructor with Femina Jeunesse, a Quebec City based program teaching teenaged girls to sail and race. The aim is to develop leadership skills, self-confidence, and teamwork.

Pernot had never sailed before she enrolled in the program at the age of 15, and Bérubé was one of the instructors. “She just took charge of the boat,” he says. “I was just at the helm of the boat, and she was like, ‘OK girls fix this, and that’.”

Bérubé and Pernot have since teamed up and navigated nearly 6,000 nautical miles together, with teacher backing his student on the 400 nm course.

“The biggest challenge will be the currents and the tide,” says Bérubé. “It’s very technical on the Saint Lawrence (river). There is also commercial traffic and choosing your best route with the currents is very hard.”

Pernot says raising money to pay the participation fee for the race, to rent the boat, the food and docking costs was hard work, but it was all worthwhile to experience the thrill and adventure of a sailing race.

“It’s freedom, and it brings me confidence,” Pernot says. “After that race, I will know that I can do it.”

She plans to wrap up the race with a move to Rimouski, Que. where she has enrolled at the Institut maritime du Québec – Canada’s largest French-language maritime training school.

Source: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/sailing-and-inspiring-a-17-year-old-skipper-aims-to-get-more-women-on-board/