Sport with regional popularity (the coasts and the Great Lakes, especially) among white middle-class Americans. Recreational sailing took off in the middle of the nineteenth century as commercial sailing lost ground to steam in shipping. Competition has focused on the America’s Cup, first raced in 1851, the main purpose of which was showcasing the New York Yacht Club’s (NYYC) ability to build vessels technologically superior to those of all other contenders. This stress on technology has increased in recent years, with the adoption of supercomputers to help determine aerodynamic designs and predict better wave-resistant materials.

The NYYC successfully defended the Cup twenty-four times over a 134-year period, the longest winning streak in sports history. However, the streak ended in 1983, when the Australians introduced a “winged keel” on their boat and defeated Dennis Conner and the NYYC’s Liberty. Conner returned four years later at the helm of the Stars and Stripes to win the Cup for the San Diego Yacht Club, but has since lost the Cup to New Zealand.

In 1995 the first all-women team competed in the America Cup. A key aspect in competitive sailing is “grinding” the huge winches that control the sail. Male grinders normally stand six feet tall, weigh around 200 pounds and can bench press between 250 and 300 pounds. Women grinders, able to bench press between 150 and 180 pounds, are at a disadvantage. The success of The Mighty Mary caused both surprise and consternation among the men, Conner dismissing the women crew as “a bunch of lesbians.” The sponsor, Bil Koch, eventually put a man at the helm. For the 2000 America Cup the San Francisco Yacht Club sponsored America True, featuring a coed crew managed and captained by Dawn Riley, the first woman CEO in the Cup.