Local Knowledge

Passing the Torch

For as long as I’ve been involved in boating, an identity issue has remained largely unresolved: Is boating a sport or is it a pastime? I prefer to think it is both; that way those of us bitten with the boating bug can keep a foot in either camp and claim “dual citizenship” whether we race or cruise.

Every sport with a history has its icons. These are the legendary, enduring figures that embody the spirit of that sport and may have achieved icon status because of their skill, strength, grace or sheer personality. They symbolize the sport, become role models and inspire thousands, if not millions, of anonymous fans and participants.

For boating, or more specifically the sport of sailing, there is no shortage of male icons. We have Dennis Connor, Ted Turner, Gary Jobson, Robin Knox-Johnson, to name a few, even the late Sir Peter Blake. But where are the female sailing icons? Women’s sports, seeing a quantum leap forward in participation and stature in recent years, has just a handful of icons — tennis has Chris Evert, track has Flo Jo and skating Peggy Fleming. For sailing, who will be the role models for the next generation of girls who aspire to grab the helm of a boat and take it to a new level? Or start a boating business in a very male industry and succeed?

At least one person comes to my mind and she is not a household name, but that’s not what counts, in my opinion. Some of the most significant advances in any sport often come from the efforts of the unheralded, the unsung, slightly anonymous movers and shakers. And we have our share.

One such person is Doris Colgate, co-founder with husband Steve, of Offshore Sailing School. After 10 years of uncompensated work on behalf of the National Women’s Sailing Association, Doris recently “retired” from the group’s Board of Directors. Her departure was a big step, both for her and the organization she started in 1990 to offer training opportunities for women and girls and make them feel that they had a “home” in a male-dominated arena.
Colgate supported, fed and guided NWSA as a means to reach out to half the population that has too often been ignored by the boating industry. Donating staff, office resources, boat show space, Web site space and, best of all, her own time and expertise, Doris developed programs that brought quality sailing and learning opportunities to women. (I thought her mother-and-daughter sailing week was particularly inspired. There seem to be a lot of opportunities for male bonding for fathers and sons, less so for women.)

A decade is a very long time to do pro bono work and run your own business. It was time to let NWSA fly on its own and I’m sure the transition was difficult for Colgate, as it was for the group that has depended so much upon her. Doris brought the group through its infancy, established a board of directors made up of outstanding women volunteers and brought in numerous sponsorships. If anyone deserves a rest, she does.

But the fact that NWSA could flawlessly put on a new sailing conference for over 100 women on its first try in Marblehead, MA, last June, should be evidence that, as an organization, it has a future in continuing to organize successful events and expand into new venues. Time will tell.

A changing of the guard like this is usually bittersweet, as I’m sure it was for Colgate, who had to let go of something she created from scratch. As a woman who has devoted her entire adult working life to getting more people out on the water, Doris is a women’s sailing icon — at least to me.

There are actually not many of us who make our living in the boating field. Doris constantly looked for ways to raise the profile of women in the sport, with speaking engagements, authoring books for women, doing committee work and chairing things like “New Sailor Day” at Sail Expo last winter.

Girls today have no idea how much things have changed. And it’s because of a handful of women, like Doris Colgate, who had a vision of women reaching the top of the boating world — as businesswomen or competitors — and cleared a path for the rest of us.

— By Elaine Dickinson

Elaine is the coordinator of the BoatUS Women in Boating Web site and managing editor of BoatUS Magazine.