Info from PWA:
Great news for the windsurfing world. The Professional Windsurfers Association (PWA) is happy to announce that the PWA World Tour will become the latest sporting arena to introduce equal prize money to winners in the men’s and women’s fleets at its events. Inspired by events like the Gran Canaria PWA World Cup, which had fully equal prize money for men and women since 2018, all events will now enjoy a prize money structure that equally respects the talent and professionalism that we have in the women’s divisions, alongside the men’s divisions.
Recently, the PWA announced that the points to the annual constructors ranking would be upgraded to equal points to female riders, offering greater value to manufacturers for supporting women on their team. Now PWA has stepped it up and done the same with the prize money amounts in line too. The new structure means that all competitors at events who earn prize money will receive the same amount for their finishing position, regardless of gender. These changes will help to get more women into the already growing participation in the women’s divisions.
Jimmy Diaz, PWA President says:
“We are very happy to finally be able to make these changes, but it would be wrong to say I am proud of them as such, as equality should be a fundamental right, not a privilege. The PWA strives to ensure equal opportunities for anyone, regardless of race or gender, based purely on merit and ability, and with these changes, we are able to make that claim more fully.”
Sarah-Quita Offringa – 2019 Wave World Champion, Multiple Freestyle and Slalom World Champion:
“It’s amazing that we get this news and that this is how the year is going to start for us, it’s a big step for women in windsurfing, I think it’s awesome that PWA has moved in this direction as well. I want to thank Daida and Iballa Moreno who kicked this off in the Canary Islands a couple of years ago at the Pozo event and it’s about time this happened. I think that for the next generation it’s huge that they can step into competing in the PWA and know that they are equal because we put the same effort into the sport, we do the same amount of hours, travel the same, take the same risks, so in the end, I think it’s very important that we made this step. I’m really looking forward to how this is going to help get more women into the sport”
