DFDS Backs Pamela Lee in 'Groundbreaking' Sailing Campaign

9th March 2025

Afloat.ie Team

DFDS sponsors Pamela Lee's #EmpowHer campaign to inspire women in maritime and support her Route du Rhum 2026 journey

Ferry and logistics company DFDS has partnered with Irish offshore sailor Pamela Lee to launch the #EmpowHer racing campaign. The initiative will support Lee as she prepares for the 2026 Route du Rhum, the world’s longest solo transatlantic race, which covers 3,500 nautical miles from St. Malo, France, to Guadeloupe.

According to DFDS, the two-year sponsorship positions Lee as a role model for women in maritime careers. "I want to be a role model, showing girls and women everywhere that they too can break barriers and achieve greatness," said Lee.

Gemma Griffin MBE, Vice President & Head of Global Crewing at DFDS, stated, "We are determined to play our part in moving the needle and addressing the gender imbalance in the maritime industry."

DFDS aims to increase the number of women in deck and engine management roles to 20% by 2030, having already raised female representation in these areas from 4.6% to 9.8%.

This partnership reaffirms DFDS’s commitment to diversity and innovation, linking key regions vital to Lee’s race, including the Rosslare-Dunkirk route.

Published in Pamela Lee, Women in Sailing, La Route du Rhum Race

Published in Pamela Lee

Tagged under

Pamela Lee

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven't put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full-time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

You might also want to read...

About Pamela Lee, Irish Offshore Sailor

Ireland has produced some of the world’s most dedicated offshore sailors, and Pamela Lee of Greystones is one of them. She has made a name for herself in the sailing world, having worked as a mate on a charter Super-yacht for two and a half years. After coming ashore, she has been fully committed to her offshore sailing ambitions since 2019.

Lee has raced in various craft, including Figaro 3s, Class 40, Tp 52s, and multihulls, and has eight transatlantic crossings under her belt. In partnership with Kenny Rumball, Lee supported Rumball’s La Solitaire du Figaro sailing campaign to secure the Irish berth in the proposed Mixed Offshore Keelboat event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

One of Lee’s stated main aims is to promote female empowerment in sport, and she set out to establish a double-handed Round Ireland speed record with Englishwoman Cat Hunt in the winter of 2020. This campaign gained much publicity, and Lee expressed pride in bringing sailing and offshore sailing, in particular, into the conversation for 2020.

To further her offshore sailing career, Lee moved to France, where she has recently secured a place to skipper a yacht in the Transat Jacques Vabre Challenge in October 2023. Lee’s passion and dedication to offshore sailing are inspiring, and her achievements are a testament to her hard work and perseverance.