The Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship
comes to the J/22

Last spring, US SAILING announced that the prestigious Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship (RIWKC) was moving from its original home in Newport to Annapolis, Maryland AND it was going to be sailed in J/22s! This event is a pretty big deal for the J/22 class. In the next few paragraphs, I want to share some thoughts I have on what this event means to our class, from my perspective as the event co-chair, 3-time RIWKC veteran, and J/22 owner and skipper.

First, a little history. The RIWKC was initiated in 1985 by US SAILING to provide opportunities for women to participate in keelboat racing at an international level. Sailed biennially in J/24's in Newport, Rhode Island, it quickly grew to become the most significant and prestigious women's championship in the world outside of the Olympics. Unlike other major women's championships, there is no qualifying process and no restrictions on entries. The event drew the best women in the world and those who wanted to compare themselves against the best. After 14 successful years in Newport, the US SAILING Women's International Keelboat Committee conducted a survey of recent competitors looking for ways to improve the event. As a result of the competitor responses to that survey, the committee chose Annapolis Yacht Club in Annapolis, Maryland as the new host club and selected the J/22 as the new boat. Just a few weeks ago at the Fall US SAILING Meeting, the Keelboat Committee committed to the J/22 through at least 2003!

So how will this affect the J/22 class and all of us as members?

Let's look at the impact the regatta had in the J/24 class. For the inaugural event, most teams chartered or borrowed boats. The first event was so successful that it became the main priority for many women. They began buying boats and campaigning them full time in their local fleets. This single biennial event became a significant growth factor for J/24 fleets around the country. Further, when training for the RIWKC, these women were in lead roles they seldom performed when sailing in mixed J/24 teams: driving, tactics, jib trim. Over the past 15 years, this has had a tremendous positive effect on both the quantity and quality of women in the J/24 class.

In the J/22 class (being smug for a minute) we already have an advantage: the smaller boat and more restrictive weight limit has always meant that our class has had a fair amount of women involved. We also already have women that are successful skippers and crew. So you might say, why do we care about this event?

For starters, fleet health and growth. I'm spoiled in Annapolis where we have a large and healthy J/22 fleet. But many local fleets have been operating just under that critical mass that really makes one-design racing so much fun. The RIWKC is going to give a lot of women incentive to buy a J/22. That's called fleet growth and that's a good thing. Also, since the women are going to be actively preparing for the RIWKC, they're going to be sailing more actively - that's more boats on the starting line and fewer sittin' on trailers.

We will probably see the same effect that the RIWKC had with the J/24. The first time out, many will charter. But once they see what a great boat we've got, and how supportive we can be, they'll be looking to buy next time out. More growth!

Yes, its true, you "guys" out there with mixed crews may find that the women on your boat may dump you for the better part of the 2001 season while they focus on the RIWKC. They may even have the audacity to want to borrow or charter your boat for the event! Support it! They'll come back far better sailors and will help build fleet sizes around the country.

How can you help out?

The easiest way is to be supportive and helpful to new women in the class, and to women who have been in the class that will be looking to sail in new roles. They'll be looking to learn more about tactics, driving, sail trim, rig tension, packing the boat, unpacking the boat, driving the trailer. All those things that are a whole lot more than just being the lightweight "bow-chick" that you need to make weight.

The second thing is to help link women who are looking to buy boats with possible boats for sale. There are always boats sitting around that are unused. Maybe those inactive owners would be willing to either charter for a whole season, or sell their boat. If you know of a boat for sale, make sure that it is listed on the class web page.

Third, consider chartering your boat. We're anticipating between 45 and 70 entries for the 2001 RIWKC. We've got a good fleet in Annapolis, but there is going to be heavy chartering demand in 2001. Todd Hiller (Leading Edge, USA 1060) is coordinating charters for the event. Let Todd (usa1060@hotmail.com) know if you are interested in chartering. We'd like to line up owners with charterees directly so that you are not chartering your boat to some anonymous boat pool.

Not from Annapolis? Don't let that stop you from chartering! We're going to run the TENTH ANNUAL J/22 East Coast Championships the weekend immediately before the RIWKC next September. Bring your boat, sail the East Coasts, then leave it in town the following for the RIWKC. We'll also probably have a smaller 1-day J/22 event in Annapolis the weekend after the RIWKC. So you can get two great road trips in and have your charter fee pay for them both and then some.

Finally, we are also working with Rolex to set up a series of clinics focused at introducing and raising the skills of women and juniors. If your club is interested in hosting a clinic, let Sue Mikulski (sumikulski@aol.com) know and she'll work on getting you into the schedule.

We'll be proactively using the Internet to promote the event and provide information. There are two websites: www.annapolisyc.com/rolexkeelboats is focusing on the Annapolis perspective and the 2001 event in particular, and www.ussailing.org/riwkc will have all the information and press releases that you'd expect from the Organizing Authority.

So put the following two events on your schedule for 2001:
September 14-16: J/22 East Coast Championships
September 22-28: Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championships