Three mixed-gender sports, horse racing, sailing and motor racing, are delighted to announce the launch of Racing Forward, a new collaborative research group that will focus on equipment and environmental design and the impact it has on biases in performance and health within each sport.

Racing Forward comprises three leading organisations striving to achieve gender equity within their respective sporting fields: Women in Racing, supporting and developing women in horse racing; The Magenta Project, a global organisation seeking to ensure that sailing is a more equitable and inclusive; and More Than Equal, an organisation that finds, develops and nurtures female racing drivers.

Gender-bias in equipment and broader environmental design is pervasive across multiple industries and professions, often due to a lack of gender-sensitive data and being based on male rather than female anatomy. Initial research has underlined that this bias frequently compromises the performance, health and safety of females compared to their male counterparts.

The Racing Forward research study will:

• – Establish an evidence base on women’s equipment/environmental needs across sports, to inform product development and optimise safety, performance and overall experience.
• – Identify areas requiring further study, including breast protection, injury prevention features, properly fitted emergency medical equipment, and ergonomic designs tailored to the female form.
• – Demonstrate that equality in design can create an inclusive, respectful, and safe environment where athletes of all genders can participate and compete on a level playing field.
• – Recognise the unique attributes and experiences of different genders, striving to eliminate discrimination and inequality across sport.
• – Share learning with other industries and sectors outside of sport who are also seeking to address gender biases in equipment and environmental design.

The research project will start in early Autumn, and Racing Forward is currently looking for forward-thinking commercial partners, with a passion for equity in women’s sport, to join the project and support the development of its recommendations.

Despite only 6% of sports science studies focusing exclusively on women, the past decade has seen a sharp increase in research on equipment, kit and environmental design for female athletes. A recent UK Government review lobbied for more research into health barriers (including equipment and environmental design) for women and girls in sport to optimise safety, performance and overall experience. While significant progress in gender design has been made in single-sex sports such as women’s football, less attention has been devoted to sports where women and men compete against one another on equal terms.

Lucy Gurney, Chair of Women in Racing, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with two fast-paced, world-class sports in Sailing and F1. While there are some obvious differences there are many similarities between the three. From our perspective this work is about supporting our female workforce, of course mainly jockeys and stable staff in this case, to achieve marginal gains they need to support peak performance and safety in their working environment. We can’t wait to get started.”

Both More than Equal and the World Sailing Trust (the official charity affiliated to World Sailing, the governing body of sailing) have stated that research into gender design is critical for either sport to increase female participation and performance.

For further information on Racing Forward, please email info@racingforward.org.