The rule that disappears at the dock

by Rory Maher, Clear Air
Gender parity in sailing hit a new high-water mark on September 2, when six IMOCA 60s began The Ocean Race Atlantic after departing Brooklyn the previous day — crews of exactly two men and two women sailing under the first mandatory 50/50 gender-equal crew rule in The Ocean Race’s 53-year history.

However, the most revealing thing said about the rule came not from an organizer but from Rosalin Kuiper, the Dutch offshore sailor who skippered Team Holcim-PRB at The Ocean Race Europe 2025 and raced around the world with Team Malizia in 2022–23.

In a recent interview, she described her experience of gender parity in sailing with disarming precision: “I just feel like a team member and I feel like I’m a valuable team member who is just sailing around the world.” Yet the moment she comes ashore, the feeling evaporates. “when you step back on land, you realize, oh, I’m a woman because you hear it from the media.”

Kuiper treats this as a residual irritation — the last stubborn stain that the rule hasn’t quite lifted. She notices gender becomes visible again through media framing. It is actually the central problem. And it is structural. – Full report