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Leroy seals third Women’s Winter Challenge crown

World number one Claire Leroy lived up to her billing as the clear event favourite as she produced a faultless display to regain the RYA Women’s Winter Challenge Match Racing Championship crown this weekend (22-24 February).

Leroy, who was named the ISAF World Sailor of the Year in November following her World and European match racing titles in 2007, made light work of a world class field at Queen Mary Sailing Club to tie up her third Championship victory without losing a race over the three days.

Read the rest of the story… 

A yacht with only women aboard draws attention. A group consisting of 14 women from Curaçao, St. Martin and the Netherlands uses this exposure to raise money for a good cause.

The team named WAVE (Women Against Violence Everywhere) will participate at the Heineken Regatta in St.Martin which will be held March 5^th through 9^th. The slogan of the regatta ‘Serious Fun’ is exactly the motto of the team, having fun while racing for a good cause.

 Good cause
The women are raising money for Kas di Bruder Pius at Curaçao. This house (Kas) is named after Brother Pius. In Kas di Bruder Pius pregnant girls and teenage mothers will find a save home. Unfortunately teenage pregnancy at Curaçao is still a common sight. A lot of pregnant teenagers experience problems at home and at school when the pregnancy becomes visible.

Kas di Bruder Pius gives shelter to girls who are not able to live at home anymore. The organization also makes sure that the girls are going to school and provides daycare for their babies. The aim is to give the girls an education and learn them to take care of themselves.

Team WAVE sails a 49 feet long Frers Yacht named ‘Synergy’, a very appropriate name in this situation. Synergy can be reached when teamwork exceeds the sum of the separate efforts. In this case the combination of the women of team WAVE working to sail well in the Heineken Regatta and by doing so raising money for the girls at Kas di Bruder Pius.

The Synergy is being helmed and owned by Lea de Haas. She won with Synergy and a different all women crew the prestigious Newport/Bermuda race in 2006. The current crew of Synergy consists of women who love to sail and want to make an effort for Kas di Bruder Pius. They also want to show that you are capable of a lot more than you sometimes think.   

Information at www.heinekenregatta.com or mail to: Marjolein@att.biz

Women in the Dashmath fishing community along the coastal belt of Orissa are able to enjoy the benefits of their hard work after they became owners of boats with the help of World Vision.

Following the Orissa Super Cyclone, World Vision’s response saw the emergence of ADP Nirman to bring sustainable development to the communities devastated by the tidal waves.

Rebuilding the livelihood security of the people was a key aspect of the programme and various activities had been undertaken to increase the income base of families dependant on agriculture, fishing and casual labour.

In the fishing village of Dashmath both men and women depend on the fish that they get from the backwaters for their livelihood. ‘Though the people got more fish, they couldn’t enjoy the profit because they had to pay a rent for the boats they hire’, says Darmendra Nayak, Programme Manager of Nirman ADP.

Getting a boat on rent also meant that the people also had to handle issues of availability of boats, fixed timings apart from the money they will have to pay for the day.

Women Self Group were determined to come out of this situation and with the help of ADP Nirman provided 15 women with 6 ‘dangs’ (a boat that can accommodate 2 – 3persons).

‘Now women own these boats, they are able to take the boats any time they want, sometimes as early as 3 a.m. and get lot of fish. The profit of the sale is shared among them and sometime they market this for export through other agencies’, says Darmendra.

‘Earlier they used to give almost half of their earning as rent. Now all the money they make is used for their families. Owning the boats have enabled this group of women to take home their earning and they are able to take better care of their families, especially children and also save money’, adds Darmendra.