The first video is being released on Thursday 7 March and will be available to watch on World Sailing's Instagram, Facebook and TikTok channels. New videos will be added daily. The videos include: 

-Countess Hélène de Pourtalès - the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport.  

-Hannah Mills OBE - the most successful female Olympian of all time and two-time Rolex World Sailor of the Year. 

-Lijia Xu - China's gold medallist who overcame numerous challenges to become world and Olympic champion.  

-Theresa Zabell - Double Olympic champion in the 470 class and founder of the Ecomar Foundation, an organisation that promotes dialogue about the sea. 

-Francesca Clapcich - 49erFX pioneer, Olympian, winner of The Ocean Race and skipper of an all-female Ocean Fifty for the next two years. 

These five trailblazers for women's sailing are just some of the great role models in the sport. When Countess Hélène de Pourtalès competed at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris, women were allowed to compete in just five sports - golf, tennis, sailing, croquet and equestrian - and 22 female athletes competed out of a total of 997. This was only 2.2% of the total number of athletes. 

When the Games return to Paris in 2024, full gender parity will be achieved for the first time, with half of the total 10,500 athletes being female. This milestone has been a long time in the making and quotas have steadily increased over time.   

Tokyo 2020 featured 18 mixed events, making it the first gender balanced Games in history. Of course, mixed events in sailing have been around for much longer - and sailing will once again be at the forefront of equality at Paris 2024, where there will be four men's and four women's events, as well as two mixed events, and two of the three 'chief' roles will be held by female officials.

World Sailing continues to strive for an equitable and accessible sport for women and in 2020 launched Steering the Course, a global women's sailing festival held twice a year. 

The six editions to date have involved Member National Authorities and sailing clubs around the world have taken part, providing more opportunities for women of all ages and levels of experience to learn to sail, discover the sport and take the next step as a coach, official or administrator. 

Steering the Course returns in 2024 with the first of two festivals taking place just before the Olympic Games from 17-26 May. World Sailing is also prioritising courses in instructing, coaching and race officiating to provide a pathway for women to reach the very top of the sport in all aspects of sailing.