Achievements and Firsts
For years many women have sailed the oceans in boats of all sizes with large crews or double handed as part of a husband and wife team. It was not until the 1950's that women started sailing across oceans on their own.
We have tried to identify some of the historical achievements of women sailors over the years. If you know of any achievements not mentioned here please let us know.
women@isaf.co.uk
The first women to cross an ocean single-handed was Anne Davison (GBR), she set off from Plymouth (GBR) on 19 May 1952 in the 23 foot sloop Felicity Ann and arrived in Miami (USA) on 13 August 1953. The main part of the crossing was from the Canaries on 1 December 1952 to Dominica on 24 January 1953 a distance of 3300 miles with an average speed of 2.3 knots.
The first women to sail single-handed across the Pacific was Sharon Sites (USA), who in 1965 sailed the 25 foot sloop Sea Harp from San Pedro (USA) to Hawaii a distance of 2300 miles in 39 days. Sharon later went on to sail from Yokahoma (JPN) to San Diego (USA) in 1969 on the 31 foot Sea Harp II, 5000 miles in 74 days.
In 1972 Marie Claude Faroux (FRA) onboard Aloa VII competed in the single-handed Transatlantic race from Plymouth (GBR) to Newport (USA) completing the race in 32 days 22 hours and 51 Minutes. At 26 years of age she was also the youngest woman to cross the Atlantic.
Wendy Hinds (GBR) was the only woman to complete the entire course of the first Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973-74 on the 71 foot Second Life. Other women also competed for some of the legs.
1989 saw Tracy Edwards enter an all women crew for the first time in the Whitbread Round the World Race.
The first non-stop single-handed circumnavigation by a woman was by Kay Cottee (AUS) on First Lady in 1984-85, it took her 189 days to sail from Sydney to Sydney.
| Record |
Date |
Skipper |
Boat |
Time |
Distance |
| Round the World, Non Stop, Single-Handed |
01/02/2005 |
Ellen MacArthur (GBR) |
B&Q |
71d 14h 18m 33s |
21760nm |
| Transatlantic West to East, Outright Women and Single-Handed Woman |
01/06/2004 |
Ellen MacArthur (GBR) |
B&Q |
7d 3h 49m 57s |
2925nm |
| Cowes - Dinard |
01/09/2002 |
Adrienne Calahan, Helena Davelid, Brian Thompson (GBR) |
Maiden II |
5h 23m 38s |
138nm |
| Round the World, Non Stop, Single-Handed, Woman, Vendee Globe |
01/02/2001 |
Ellen MacArthur (GBR) |
Kingfisher |
94d 4h 25m 40s |
21760nm |
| Round Britain & Ireland all Islands, Non Stop, Women |
01/08/2000 |
Miranda Merron and Emma Richards (GBR) |
Team Pindar |
11d 6h 58m 17s |
1787nm |
| Transatlantic East to West, Plymouth - Newport, Monohull, Women, any vessel |
01/06/2000 |
Ellen MacArthur (GBR) |
Kingfisher |
14d 23h 11m |
2800nm |
| Round the World, Assissted, Westabout |
01/07/1996 |
Samantha Brewster (GBR) |
Heath Insured 2 |
247d 14h 51m 7s |
21760nm |
| New York - San Francisco, Non Stop, Crewed |
01/02/1994 |
Isabelle Autissier (FRA) |
Ecureuil Poitou Charentes |
63d 5h 55m |
13945nm |
| Transatlantic West to East, Ambrose Light - Lizard Point, Single-Handed, Female, any Vessel |
01/08/1990 |
Florence Arthaud (FRA) |
Pierre 1er |
9d 22h 5m |
2925nm |
| Record |
Date |
Skipper |
Boat |
Time |
Distance |
| Initial World Record, Antigua - Newport |
01/05/2002 |
Adrienne Calahan, Helena Davelid and a Crew of 15 (GBR) |
Maiden II |
3d 22h 31m 58s |
1560nm |
| Initial Transat Single-Handed Monohull World Record |
01/09/2002 |
Emma Richards (GBR) |
Pindar |
13d 1h 14m 35s |
2925nm |
| The Fastest Speed to Date by a Woman over 1nm |
01/07/2003 |
Britt Dunkerbek |
Windsurfer |
Speed: 23.84kts |
1nm |
| Date |
Class |
Name |
Boat |
Speed |
Venue |
| 01/07/1993 |
10sq M Women |
Babethe Coquelle (FRA) |
Windsurfer |
40.05kts |
Tarifa |
| 01/04/2005 |
10sq M Women |
Karin Yaggi (SUI) |
Windsurfer |
41.25kts |
Saintes Maries |
| 01/04/2004 |
A Class Women |
Marianne Tertian (FRA) |
Windsurfer |
26.36kts |
Saintes Maries |
| 01/10/1993 |
C Class Women |
Jean Daddo (AUS) |
Yellow Pages |
17.38kts |
Sandy Point |
| Record |
Date |
Skipper |
Boat |
Time |
Distance |
| St Malo - Guadeloupe (Route de Rhum) Monohull |
01/11/2002 |
Ellen MacArthur (GBR) |
Kingfisher |
13d 13h 31m |
3540nm |
More information about Sailing Records can be found on the World Sailing Speed Record Council website http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/
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