Cowes Week changes tack over its ‘outdated’ Ladies’ Day

The UK's oldest sailing regatta has renamed the traditional Ladies’ Day as Women's Day, amid fears the term is “outdated”.

Cowes Week, held annually on the Isle of Wight since 1826, has made the change in a bid to ensure female sailors are seen as “competitors, not just spectators.”

Laurence Mead, regatta director, said the term “Ladies’ Day” also had connotations with “socialising” and did not reflect the “hands on” nature of the event. He told The Telegraph said: "Our festival is about women taking part in sailing, and not just watching.

"We have a large number of Olympic gold medallists who come here and we listened to feedback from women around the sport who felt that 'Women's Day' was better than the outdated 'Ladies’ Day', which has connotations of socialising, and better summed up the hands-on element of Cowes Week.

“Women are such an important part of our regatta and this change highlights that women are competitors, not just spectators," he added.

Female sailors take the helm

The Royal Yachting Association welcomed the change and said it was “supportive of any efforts to attract new participants”.

Ladies’ Day traditionally takes place on August 3 and first took place in 2006, although female-only crews have been competing in the regatta since the 19th century.

Queen Victoria visited the regatta on a number of occasions throughout her reign and the Princess Royal still regularly attends.

Anyone from Olympic medallists to amateurs can compete over the week, but on Ladies’ Day female sailors are encouraged to take the helm.

The day's celebrations culminate in an evening reception, at which a trophy, from herein known as the “Women's Day Trophy”, is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in sailing.

An 'exciting and worthwhile' change

Jeanne Socrates, now 79, from Hampshire, became the oldest woman ever to sail around the world in 2019, aged 77. She was a regular at Cowes Week throughout her life, and praised the "exciting and worthwhile" change.

She said: “I think it is very exciting and it does give the right impression as all the hats and dresses that you see at Ascot and places like that isn't very sailing.

“I think it is good and worthwhile because the word 'lady' does have certain connotations. And you have to think, some people in society still view having a woman on board as bad luck.”

Nearly 1,000 boats in up to 40 different classes attend the regatta each year. Around 8,000 competitors take part and the spectacle usually attracts almost 100,000 spectators.