Women on the Water

My longtime friend Phyllis Detwiler is a Training Captain with In-Command Seamanship Training, a US Sailing certified Safe Powerboat Handling Instructor, and an instructor at Sail Newport who relishes teaching Pell Program 4th graders about maritime life and Newport, Rhode Island history. Coop: Phyllis, Hi and thanks for coming out. PD: Well Coop, thanks for having me. Coop: So, name rank and serial number: Who are you, where do you come from, and what’s yer story, girl?…

Editor’s note: This is the second part of Coop’s conversation with Ellie, a rising star in the doublehanded offshore racing world. Sailing with her father on their Jeanneau Sun Fast 3330, she was named Sailor of the Year at the 2022 British Yachting Awards. Part 1 is at windcheckmagazine.com.     Coop: Ellie, we left you with the RORC doing their Butch and Sundance imitation: “Who are you guys?” …and you guys trying to park the boat….

Voted Sailor of the Year at the 2022 British Yachting Awards, Ellie was in town to speak at a seminar hosted by North Sails and Bluenose Yacht Sales, local dealer for the Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300. Ken Read and a variety of crews have been sailing one of these in the DH scene around Newport the past couple of years. Ellie and her dad sail one, very successfully, in the UK.     Coop: Ellie, welcome to…

Part Four: “You’re all going to die!” Tracy Edwards, MBE was the first (and until the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, the only) skipper to muster an all-women crew and compete in the then named Whitbread Round the World Race. I spoke with Tracy aboard the same yacht, the refit Maiden, at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island. This is the final installment of an amazing conversation. Parts One, Two and Three can be found at…

Part Three: “I have a dream.” Tracy Edwards, MBE was the first (and until the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, the only) skipper to muster an all-women crew and compete in the then named Whitbread Round the World Race. I spoke with Tracy aboard the same yacht, the refit Maiden, at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island. (Part One of our conversation can be found at windcheckmagazine.com.) Coop: You had just come ashore after three weeks…

Tracy Edwards, MBE was the first (and until the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, the only) skipper to muster an all-women crew and compete in the then named Whitbread Round the World Race. I spoke with Tracy aboard the same yacht, the refit Maiden, at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island. (Part One of our conversation can be found at https://www.windcheckmagazine.com/article/women-on-the-water-tracy-edwards/.) My brother, a career journalist, once remarked about interviewing: Know when to shut up and…

Tracy Edwards, MBE was the first (and until the Volvo Ocean Race 2014-15, the only) skipper to muster an all-women crew and compete in the then named Whitbread Round the World Race. I spoke with Tracy aboard the same yacht, the refit Maiden, at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard in Newport, Rhode Island. Coop: Tracy, do I call you Dame? (and I almost uttered “Ellen”…OOPS!) TE: No, not a Dame. Coop: The Maiden story, “Tracy and the girls…

This month we chat with an up-and-coming sailor with a bright future in the sport. I spoke with Newport native Orlaith (pronounced Or-la) Neylon at Safe Harbor Newport Shipyard, right after she’d come ashore from sailing on Christopher Dragon in the Safe Harbor Marinas Race Weekend. Full disclosure: I have known Orla since she was born.   Coop: Giday, kiddo. Thanks for coming over. I know a lot of your history generally, but give me your take…

Professional sailor Sara Stone has a goal of competing in The Ocean Race and the Paris 2024 Olympics. With experience from 49ers to TP52s, she was selected as a mentee of The Magenta Project in 2018. Last month, she and Cat Hunt sailed the Jeanneau Sunfast 3300 Alchemist to first place in class and fleet in the inaugural Bermuda Short-Handed Return Race. I spoke with Sara at Cru Café in Newport not long after the prize giving….

If you have read press releases from Edgartown Race Weekend, the Ida Lewis Distance Race or the Newport Car Museum, amongst others, you have read Barby MacGowan wordsmithing. Barby is the founder and President of Media Pro International, a Newport-based press and public relations company specializing in luxury brands and lifestyle sports. Coop: Barby, thanks for coming over. Great to see you. Barby: Good morning (flashes that 1500-watt smile). Coop: Where are you from, and was sailing…