The oldest video footage of women's sailing
by Magnus Smith 13 Oct 2024 11:00 UTC
In 1976, Clare Francis competed in the Observer Single handed Transatlantic race in her Ohlson 38 yacht and setting a new women's single-handed transatlantic record wearing Henri-Lloyd © Henri-Lloyd
With the inaugural Puig Women's America's Cup just finishing in Barcelona, it seemed that our weekly delve in to the video archives should focus on female sailors. With our goal always being to find the oldest footage, this immediately raised some concerns. There are sailing videos from as far back as the 1920s... but with so few countries even letting women vote in those days, what sexist horrors might we find?
The oldest video we could find is Sea Guides from 1926 in England. Girls sailing and rowing may have been chosen for a newsreel because it wasn't a common sight, but at least we are seeing it celebrated.
We also found The Girl On The Yacht
and The Girls Of The Yacht Brigade from the 1930s. Then there is a clear record of mixed-sex youth sailing in the 1940s: Snowbird racing in Newport Bay, California.
This video of the America's Cup 1934 is good because it shows both Thomas and Phyllis Sopwith, sailing together (at 0m22s).
In 1968, Barbara Caulder captained an all-female crew from Aberdeen, Scotland, for a race across the North Sea. The video shows some preparations ahead of the start, including what looks like testing an emergency tiller?
Barbara's obituary makes for fascinating reading.
From an unknown year in the seventies, GP14 sailing at Lymington Town Sailing Club is great because it shows so many female sailors. Whilst watching people taking boat covers off isn't thrilling, I'm glad that footage was taken on shore, because the on-water shots are too far away to spot anyone's gender. Lots of racing dinghy classes still see a wonderful variety of mixed crews these days.
In 1977 Clare Francis became the first woman to skipper a boat in the Whitbread Round the World Race, but sadly the Official Film makes only a passing mention of her yacht. We will skip that video in disgust, and instead show Interviews before the start, which cover Clare at 2m47s.
Tracy Edwards went one better in the 1989/90 Whitbread, increasing female crewmembers to 100%. The Maiden Voyage is a 52 minute TV documentary about the race. As a bloke, I can't fully tell if this does justice to the girls, but I hope it shows the world that they are simultaneously amazing... and yet just ordinary; I mean that in the sense that we shouldn't be surprised women can sail as well as men. It should be a given! (See also the Official Film of the race, and The Maiden Factor charity.)
Coming back to the America's Cup, it's good to learn that the 2024 event isn't the first time we've had female sailors involved. The history shows several women who took on the men and that reminds us to see if there is any footage of Dawn Riley.
There is a brief video of the America3 women's team in action in 1992, but lets watch America's Cup 1995 (part 2) which shows the all-women's 'Mighty Mary' team at 15m30s, leading Dennis Conner's men in the Defender Trials, by a 4 minute margin. I'd have loved to see them win overall, but it didn't happen that time.
We will stop there, as everything went digital after the nineties. If we have missed a video you know of (new or old) you can submit links for immediate review. If you have thoughts on the past/future of women's sailing then do get in touch by email.
What a wonderful aspect of our sport it is, that men and women, old and young, plus those with physical or mental disabilities, can enjoy being on the water - and in many circumstances, find a level playing field for competitive racing too.