Royal Irish Yacht Club's Saskia Tidey has been named as a member of the Pathway squad in the race to win the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup and retain the Youth America’s Cup for Britain.
In a busy year for the Dun Laoghaire Harbour sailor, Tidey has also been selected to sail for Team GB in the 49er class in the Paris Olympics, to make it her third Olympic appearance, twice for Britan and once for Ireland.
The Twelve strong squad share a resume of 6 Olympic and 22 World Championship medals.
Hannah Mills OBE and Sir Ben Ainslie announced the Athena Pathway squad of sailors that, entered through Challenging Club the Royal Yacht Squadron, will seek to make history by winning the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup and retaining the Youth America’s Cup for Britain.
Athena Pathway was launched in August 2022 by Mills and Ainslie, the world’s most successful Olympic sailors, with the aim of fast-tracking development in high-performance sailing and bringing diversity into the sport and the UK marine industry more broadly.
The Athena Pathway squad in the race to win the inaugural Puig Women’s America’s Cup
The Women’s and Youth America’s Cups, taking place alongside the 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona in September and October 2024, are a central focus for the Pathway, with the first-time inclusion of a women’s event and the renewed emphasis on supporting the next generation representing major progress for the World’s oldest sporting trophy in achieving gender equity and raising the sport’s profile for young people.
Over 300 applications were received for Athena Pathway’s Cup squad, with an intensive 18-month trials process, comprising on-water and simulator-based analysis, used to assess the hopefuls’ abilities to adapt to the unique skillset required to sail at speeds of up to 100kph in an AC40, the highly technical and data-driven foiling monohull which will be used in the Women’s and Youth regattas.
