Sailing's Racing Women Say More Room on Board

By Regina Varolli

WeNews correspondent

Monday, October 11, 2010

Dawn Riley broke barriers in the high-testosterone world of sailboat racing before taking the helm as director of an instructional center a year ago. Women are still scarce in this physically grueling sport, but she says "guys are more open to having women on the boat."

Dawn Riley doing pit on Areva in 2007 America's Cup NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--On a bright, blustery October morning in Oyster Bay, on the North Shore of Long Island, you might see a group of sails skimming the horizon. It's a good guess that they are from the Oakcliff Sailing Center, Dawn Riley's year-old instructional program she runs for about 40 amateur enthusiasts.

Riley's school is co-ed.

But as the first woman to play an active role on board a winning boat--the America3 (America Cubed)--in the America's Cup held in San Diego, Calif., in 1992, she's got a special interest in training and coaching women in a sport once haunted by the superstition that a woman's presence brings bad luck to a boat.

"Sailing is perceived to be so male-dominated that a lot of women don't just jump in and go for it," Riley said in a recent interview. "But compared to 20 years ago, it's night and day. Guys are much more open to having women on the boat."

In her breakthrough America's Cup, Riley's position was "pitman." Part of the foredeck crew, the pitman occupies a central position, coordinating all the sail changes during the race and doubling as the grinder--the person who turns the winches that reel in the sheets and halyards.

"In the pit, you're hoisting and letting down the sails, patching sails and also grinding, which is usually a job for the big guys because it takes a lot of strength," Riley said.

Three years later, Riley crossed another boundary when she joined the first all-female crew to race in the America's Cup. Again aboard America3, this time Riley was team captain.

Riley, a former president of the Women's Sports Foundation, an advocacy group in East Meadow, N.Y., returned to the America's Cup in 2000 and 2007.

In 2000, about 25 percent of the crew on board the boat America True were women. In Riley's 2007 race in Valencia, Spain, aboard the French team's Areva, she was general manager and one of only two female crew members.

"There's absolutely no reason there shouldn't have been more women on board," Riley said.

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