Woman Captains Down Under
Kay Cottee was the first woman to solo circumnavigate non-stop. She's Australian. While on a recent trip to Tasmania for the Australian Wooden Boat Festival, I discovered another woman captain of note. Sarah Parry. She wasn't onboard the morning I stopped by the boat, but according to her woman crew, she not only Captains this Brigantine, but she built and owns it too. At 80 feet, this is no small achievement.
One of the primary challenges I've heard from women organizers and instructors of women's sailing conferences and events, is that they have trouble finding enough boats to teach aboard. Nearly all the boats are owned by men, and besides the challenge of having to ask, they have to negotiate the participation of the owner - or not. Some men are quite comfortable turning over their boat to a known, experienced woman captain. But wouldn't it be nice to skip this step and instead... find more woman boat owners? If you own your boat, send an email and tell us about it.
Kaci Cronkhite
in International Sailing Opportunities
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