- Athena Pathway, led by Hannah Mills OBE, will work with the Performance Academy to deliver the Athena Foiling Pathway, with support from WASZP.
- The programme aims to create a pathway for young sailors into the America’s Cup and professional foiling racing.
- The programme will begin in August 2023, with a 5-day Junior Foiling Pilot Week at Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy.
Hattie Rogers, the 2022 SailGP X WASZP Champion, was one of Athena’s first recruits, and it is hoped that the Athena Foiling Pathway will create further success stories like Hattie’s, inspiring more young sailors to take up the sport and producing athletes for the America’s Cup and professional foiling racing more broadly.
Athena Foiling Pathway participants will benefit from Performance Academy’s world-class coaching and expertise, while support from WASZP will enable them to get to grips with the art of foiling in the accessible, one-design dinghy in preparation for joining the highly competitive global WASZP circuit. WPNSA, Britain’s hub of high-performance sailing, will provide world-class conditions and facilities for the program. UK WASZP distributor Sailingfast will share their technical knowledge and maintain the boats to racing standards.
Marc Ablett, from WASZP said:
“We are thrilled to partner with the UK’s Athena Pathway. The WASZP has had a strong connection with the UK sailing scene since its inception as a class in late 2016. Our local agent Sailingfast has done an incredible job growing the fleet in this time. The WASZP is a diverse class, with strong female participation that fits beautifully with the AP values, and there is no better place than this partnership to start your foiling journey, develop your skills and gain the experience to take your sailing further. To us at WASZP, it is the perfect fit, and we cannot wait to see the next generation of professional sailors take this opportunity.”
Sign up to The Athena Foiling Pathway here!
