World Sailing revives Steering the Course to grow women’s sailing

Steering the Course returned as World Sailing’s sixth women’s sailing festival, carrying the 2026 theme Give to Gain and a first run from May 22 to 31, followed by a second from September 25 to October 4. The campaign was built around a simple but practical idea for sailing clubs: if more women and girls are invited in, the sport gains coaches, crew, volunteers, and long-term members who keep boats, docks, and local fleets moving.

World Sailing tied the campaign to the 2026 International Women’s Day theme and to a longer strategy that runs through 2028, with an eye on 2032. The targets were specific. World Sailing wants 30% women registered as coaches and support staff at the 2026/27 World Sailing Championships, up from 18% at The Hague in 2023. It is also aiming for 35% women registered as coaches or team leaders at the 2026 Youth Sailing World Championships, up from 18% at Buzios in 2023. Across the 2025-2028 quadrennial, the goal is 50% women attending technical courses for coaches, alongside 50% female race officials at the 2026/27 championships and at LA28.

For the DIY sailing crowd, the value sits in how those targets are supposed to be reached. World Sailing said 2026 Steering the Course events and courses were taking place in Iceland, Brazil, South Africa, Bolivia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Hong Kong. That makes the campaign more than a logo or a slogan. It is a pathway into club nights, coached sessions, and community entry points where a newcomer can move from first-time passenger to active crew, then into the jobs that hold a sailing scene together, from mentoring to maintenance and refits.

Hong Kong offered one clear example of that local club model. Hebe Haven Yacht Club and Sailability Hong Kong co-organized a 2026 Ladies Sailing Festival under the Steering the Course banner, and the club said it marked its sixth consecutive year in the initiative. That kind of repeat participation matters because it gives women a familiar place to come back to, not just a single event to attend and forget.

The online side followed the same logic. World Sailing’s all-female eSailing regatta launched on March 2, 2026, with the winner earning automatic qualification for the eSailing World Championship. The runner-up and closest challengers moved into the semi-finals and playoffs. Taken together, the on-water festivals, club sessions, and digital racing showed exactly how Steering the Course was trying to grow women’s sailing: by widening access, building confidence, and keeping people in the sport long enough for a one-off taste to become a lasting habit.