WEBVTT - Dawn Riley: Sailing Legend 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:08.080 So you're always planning ahead, you're making plans, and you're 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.840 always coming up with your contingencies. So a storm and 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.200 we're in the Southern Ocean where there's no ships to 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:17.800 tell you what's going on, but your senses of does 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:21.680 it does the temperature change? Is the moisture changing? Are 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.840 the wave altering? You know? What does it feel like 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.960 in terms of the pressure in your ears? And so 0:00:29.040 --> 0:00:32.120 you're always on, You're always looking at we're going this way, 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.839 We're absolutely going to lose the spinnaker. We're gonna have 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:37.400 to go with the jib. So it's a combination of 0:00:37.640 --> 0:00:43.320 real life engineering, problem solving, crisis management, and again just 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:49.720 freaking awesome sailing. That was Don Riley explaining what it 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:52.839 takes to captain a racing sail boat and rough seas. 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:57.680 Don has made history by leading crews in the biggest competitions, 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.760 including the America's Cup and the grueling Whitbread Round the 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:07.679 World Race. No Wonder Sports Illustrated named her one of 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:13.080 the hundred greatest female athletes of the twentieth century. I'm 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:16.040 a land Revere and this is Seneca's one hundred women 0:01:16.120 --> 0:01:19.240 to hear. We are bringing you one hundred of the 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:24.000 world's most inspiring and history making women you need to hear. 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.760 Don Riley has so many firsts to her name it's 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:35.080 hard to keep track. In nineteen eighty nine, she joined 0:01:35.080 --> 0:01:38.840 the crew of Maiden, the first all women's boat to 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:43.920 participate in the Whitbread Round the World Race. In the 0:01:44.000 --> 0:01:47.720 following years, she was the first woman ever to manage 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:52.360 an entire America's Cup sailing team, and she was skipper 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.400 of Heineken, the only all women's entry in the nineteen 0:01:56.440 --> 0:02:02.160 ninety three ninety four Whitbread Race. Don has also served 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:06.200 as president of the Women's Sports Foundation, which was created 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:09.680 by Billy Jean King to advocate for women and girls 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:14.880 in sports. Listen and learn why Don Riley is one 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:21.960 of Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear. I'm speaking today 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:26.080 with sailing legend Don Riley. Don welcome. It's such a 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.200 pleasure to have you with us. Thanks for having me well. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:33.160 You are one of the world's legendary sailors, a true pioneer, 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.600 with several firsts to your name. Among them, you were 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:39.280 the first woman to sail in both the America's Cup 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.320 and the Woodbread Race. What draws you to the sport. 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.120 What drew you in in the first place, and what 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.040 makes it like nothing else. Well, I started sailing a 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.880 very long time ago, so I'm not quite sure what 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:55.240 it was that drew me to the sport, but I 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.280 do know that now I love the combination of being 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.720 outside of the physical side of it, where you're pushing 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.400 yourself to the absolute limit, and then also, especially when 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:09.040 you get higher in the sport, the mental aspect of 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:12.200 having to put together you know, in America's Cup or 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.720 a nonprofit foundation or a team. We just finished the 0:03:15.919 --> 0:03:19.240 Macina Race with twenty two people on an eighty six 0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.680 ft boat. The logistics, the problem solving, You're you're never off, 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:28.440 you're always on, on on sounds truly challenging, just as 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.760 it does when we think about what you all do 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.800 as sailors. You were the skipper of an all women's 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:40.160 team in in the whip Read Round the World race. 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:45.120 That's nine months of sailing thirty three thousand miles across 0:03:45.160 --> 0:03:48.520 the world's oceans. What is that like for those of 0:03:48.640 --> 0:03:52.960 us who have no comparable experience, And you mentioned some 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.600 of the tough challenges that sailors have. What was the 0:03:56.640 --> 0:04:01.119 toughest part of this that one was actually the management 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:03.720 of the team. So I had been the watch captain, 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:08.320 diver and engineer on Maiden. The race before that was 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:11.440 an all women's team skippered by Tracy Edwards and the 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.160 movie made in obviously, and so Heineken. I was called 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:19.360 in at the end of the first leg when there 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.719 had been a mutiny on board, so I was literally, 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:23.599 if you put in business terms, there had been a 0:04:23.640 --> 0:04:27.760 hostile takeover and I was brought in as the new CEO. 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.760 And to do that whilst you're also sailing through the 0:04:31.800 --> 0:04:35.799 Southern Ocean and thirty forty knot winds and snow and ice, 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.280 that was a challenge. My goodness, that's quite a combination 0:04:39.880 --> 0:04:44.760 a mutiny and weather impacts that are rather severe. So 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.960 how does one stay mentally strong? Because you you talked 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.880 about the fact that you do really need to be disciplined. 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:54.240 How do you deal with storms? How do you deal 0:04:54.320 --> 0:04:57.960 with high seas and other kinds of challenges. Well, this 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.360 should come as no surprise to any human who's successful. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:06.600 Preparation is key, So you're always planning ahead, you're making plans, 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.800 and you're always coming up with your contingencies. So a 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:12.880 storm while even back then we didn't have as good 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:16.279 weather information clearly, and we're in the southern Ocean where 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.479 there's no ships to tell you what's going on. But 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:22.320 you can still get satellite images of the fronts and 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:26.520 an idea. But your senses of does the temperature change, 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:31.440 is the moisture changing, are the wave altering? You know? 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.280 What does it feel like in terms of the pressure 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.360 in your ears? All of that, and so you're always 0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.839 on You're always looking at we're going this way this 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.159 you know, we've got forty knots of wind is behind us. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:45.640 If it comes further forward, we're absolutely going to lose 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:47.559 the spinnaker. We're gonna have to go with the jib. 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:51.560 If that happens, I will do this. If that happens quickly, 0:05:51.640 --> 0:05:53.840 then it's going to be more of an emergency. We're gonna, 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:56.040 you know, blow that tax so that we can get 0:05:56.040 --> 0:05:59.040 it down and unload the loads. So it's a combination 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:05.560 of real life engineering, problem solving, crisis management, and again 0:06:06.080 --> 0:06:10.839 just freaking awesome sailing. Well, you had said that it 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.960 really takes preparation, and I wonder to be mentally strong 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:17.839 to do all the things you just described. Are there 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:22.320 exercises you do. How do you prepare? We definitely work 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:28.000 out so physically, we prepare mentally. I think, honestly, it's 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:32.240 just convincing yourself to rip off the band aid and 0:06:32.279 --> 0:06:35.000 go for it. And the more you plan, the easier 0:06:35.000 --> 0:06:37.760 it is to take that first step. We were talking 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.599 about that this morning at oak Cliffe Sailing, the nonprofit 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:43.279 that I run right now. Most of the time when 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:46.479 people are coming up with excuses or not starting a 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:49.279 project is because they don't know how and they're afraid. 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.480 So once you just say I can do this and 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:56.240 you take the first step, you get a great sense 0:06:56.240 --> 0:07:00.240 of accomplishment after So you were describing some of what 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.760 you went through with those nine months on the sea 0:07:04.000 --> 0:07:07.480 in the Big Bread Race. Did you have any close calls, 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:13.600 either in that experience or in other experiences. The funny 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:18.360 thing is is I have had very few injuries, and 0:07:18.440 --> 0:07:21.080 none of them have been on boats. It's always been 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.720 something stupid, like I have a broken arm right now. 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:26.040 I slipped on my porch because it was rainy and 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.440 sandy and broke my arm. That is too funny. But 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:32.520 on the boat, you prepare and you take all of 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:36.080 the precautions, so I've flown f sixteens, I've jumped out 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.000 of planes, I've bungee jumped, I've sailed, you know, around 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.280 the world twice. I pushed myself to the limit and 0:07:43.000 --> 0:07:48.680 I slip and fall, such as life. Yes, now I 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:53.920 know that in you were the first woman actively involved 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.880 in the America's Cup, and that seems pretty light in 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.560 the game for women to be starting sailing in such 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:04.600 a prestigious event. Why did it take so long? Are 0:08:04.640 --> 0:08:08.960 there more obstacles for women that you can describe for us? Well, 0:08:09.040 --> 0:08:12.559 there's the same obstacles. Sailing is no different. It's actually 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:18.760 more competitive than life because one the sailing at the 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.600 lower levels, you're working on getting your skills up. You're 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:26.480 overcoming the idea that you're not as strong physically fit, 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.400 and then that translates that say, you know, she might 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:31.920 be good, but she's not strong enough. The good news 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:35.880 for me is that I'm uh, definitely stronger than the 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:41.920 average human female, so that helps. But the real final 0:08:42.040 --> 0:08:46.280 frontier in terms of breaking glass ceilings is having somebody 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.040 to pull you up. So when you're the first it 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:53.320 takes a lot more effort. The second it's a little 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:55.559 bit easier, but it's not until we get to the 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.760 third that then you start being able to get equality. 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:03.800 And you need women in the leadership to pull people up. 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:06.640 So that's what took so long, is just somebody breaking 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:10.400 through up into the leadership and you feel that you're 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.839 the first when when that is occurring, is that a 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:16.720 special pressure that's one on you at the time. You know, 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:19.440 I was twenty five when I did my first round 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:22.480 the World. I was thirty when I did my second 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:27.400 America's Cup. So I was able to um, I was 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.199 able to be young and naive and like this is cool, 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:33.120 this is awesome. Yeah. And it wasn't until I got 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:34.680 a little bit older and I started looking for my 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.560 next gig that I realized, Okay, I need to do something. 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:40.480 And that's really why I put together my own America's 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:43.960 Cup in two thousand and It was a mixed team. 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.360 We were trying to go for diversity. We didn't have 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:50.719 enough of a pool to pull from. So instead of saying, oh, well, 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:54.200 would just be co ed and not diverse, we made 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:56.960 it a co ed team. And then we started true 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:01.400 youth programs working in underserved communities to get sailing into 0:10:01.520 --> 0:10:05.120 diverse populations and we're starting to see the payoff for that, 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.760 granted it, but we're starting to see much more diversity 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.200 in the sport of sailing, and I'm personally very proud 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.240 of that. Yeah, that's that's wonderful because you don't see 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:23.280 that in sailing so much. For sure, senecas one hundred 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:25.800 women to hear. We'll be back after the short break. 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:39.640 I know you've also helmed all women crews in both 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:44.360 the America's Cup and with Bread. Are there advantages that 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:47.680 women bring to sailing or is it you know what 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:49.760 it appears to be. It doesn't matter if you're a 0:10:49.800 --> 0:10:53.320 man or a woman, and diversity is critically important. I 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:58.040 think the question diversity is absolutely important, especially when you're 0:10:58.040 --> 0:11:01.760 doing the problem solving. So diversity of under background, racial diversity, 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.920 just a different way of thinking makes your team stronger 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:09.319 and that goes very clearly for a profitable business all 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:12.600 the way down to a sailing event. The thing that 0:11:12.679 --> 0:11:16.400 women do bring is that they have a new perspective. 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:21.360 They often are slightly unsure of themselves, which you would 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:25.240 think would be a detriment, but it forces them to 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:29.120 think through the problems rather than jump, and so they 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:34.640 tend to be smarter and more you know, qualified, and 0:11:35.320 --> 0:11:39.599 better at positions like the pit which is very technical 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:41.560 in terms of which sales are going up and down, 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:45.160 and organizational or trimming where you have to look at 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.880 it and think outside of the box as opposed to 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.640 just jumping, jumping in and pulling, which the guys are 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:53.400 really good at doing and they're just give me that 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:57.000 poll done, and a female will often say, let me 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.720 think this through. And that seems to be the case 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:03.720 in other pursuits as well. So it's interesting that it 0:12:03.800 --> 0:12:07.080 holds for sailing. Well, let's go back a bit. Tell 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.440 us about your growing up, your childhood, what led you 0:12:11.520 --> 0:12:17.280 to become this extraordinary professional and sailing. Take us back, Well, 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:21.600 I started sailing with our family when I was thirteen. 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:23.840 We took off for a year with my parents and 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:27.480 my younger brother and sister, and we sailed the whole 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:29.600 from the Great Lakes out to the East Coast, all 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:31.880 the way up and down to Florida, the Bahamas, the 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:36.880 Virgin's Granada and back. So that clearly expanded my horizons, 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.480 um so, and I realized that sailing was a vehicle. 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:43.960 Of course, being a female in the late seventies early 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:48.640 eighties when there were no female sailors and very few 0:12:48.640 --> 0:12:51.959 professional sailors. I kind of had to figure it out 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:54.440 as I went. But there was one thing that was 0:12:54.559 --> 0:12:57.880 critical that I think, especially this podcast audience would be 0:12:58.000 --> 0:13:01.200 interested in, is that when I was in fourth grade, 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.880 a woman named Sheila Young came to my school, my 0:13:04.960 --> 0:13:07.760 fourth grade teacher, Mrs cratch, and she showed her as 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:13.280 her medal from the Olympics in speed skating. Oh my goodness. 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:17.720 Sheila Young was part of friends with and part of 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.680 the beginning of the Women's Sports Foundation with Billy Jene King, 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.240 So that was super influential to me. And then you 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:29.440 jumped forward to two thousand and two and I became 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.559 the president of Women's Sports Foundation that Billy Jane King 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.520 and Sheila Young started. So you never know how long 0:13:35.559 --> 0:13:38.760 it's going to take for one small you know what, 0:13:38.840 --> 0:13:41.720 was she there forty five minutes and for that to 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:46.680 change the life and of a person and the career 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.840 of quite a few people. Well, and what an impressionable 0:13:49.960 --> 0:13:53.440 moment that clearly was for you. Did anybody else in 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:57.720 your family go into professional sailing. My sister is very 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:01.240 good at it. She worked with me and the America 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:05.439 True Foundation and Development and did some sailing on the boat. 0:14:05.840 --> 0:14:08.840 She did more sailing after the America's Cup and she 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:12.920 runs the city of Oakland Wrekin Park in California. And 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.280 my brother has what we call a normal job and 0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:17.960 a wife and three kids, and he still is a 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.560 very good sailor. But neither one of them make their 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:23.280 living off with it like I do well, and you're 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:28.080 successfully doing it. You did mention the Women's Sports Foundation. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:31.680 I wonder if you could talk about why women and 0:14:31.720 --> 0:14:35.040 girls why it's important for them to have full access 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:39.520 and opportunities in sports, because we know that it's crucial 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.920 even if you never become that super athlete or that 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.920 super professional sports do make a difference for women and girls. 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:50.000 You know, talk about that a little bit. Please absolutely 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.200 the their statistics and studies, and we've been saying the 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:57.440 same stats over for the past thirties five years, you know, 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:02.360 eighties seven nine depend on which study which year. Women 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:06.720 in business and leadership directly attribute their success to their 0:15:06.760 --> 0:15:11.240 competitive sports when they were in high school or college. 0:15:11.640 --> 0:15:16.800 Women need to identify as competitive athletes and learn how 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:21.920 to win and how to lose and keep going the 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:25.720 you know, when I hear some parents say, well, isn't 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:29.240 it nice they played soccer. I'm like, no, it's great. 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:33.440 They played soccer and they were competitive. Um it even 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.840 goes This is a funny little story. I was on 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.520 the stage in Sweden with a woman who had skippered 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:45.560 around the World race on s c A, and she 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:50.720 had the microphone and was basically saying the typical well, 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:54.400 I'm so lucky, it's so nice we were able to 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.440 go around the world. And I literally grabbed the microphone 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.320 out of her hand and said with sam meant to say, 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:03.680 she's freaking good. And they kicked butt going around the world. 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:07.080 And then I said, hey, I have a super yacht 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:09.240 that I need a homesman or do you want to 0:16:09.240 --> 0:16:12.320 steer the boat in New Zealand. She said yep. And 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.480 I said that's how the guys do it, exactly. So 0:16:15.560 --> 0:16:19.960 you have your own network now, working one person at 0:16:19.960 --> 0:16:25.200 a time, exactly. You know. I've heard data myself about 0:16:25.480 --> 0:16:28.200 women in the C suites as c e O s 0:16:28.640 --> 0:16:31.800 that the great great majority of them were engaged in 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:36.720 competitive sports and years earlier. Absolutely, so that competition does 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.520 pay off, even if you don't become a sports professional 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:42.600 and I need to say this one more time. It 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:47.080 is super critical to have representation in all leadership, whether 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.160 it's a super yot that's owned by an increasing number 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.760 of wealthy women, if they have men putting their crews together, 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.560 they will not have women on the team. In a corporation, 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:02.800 if you have three women on your board, you will 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:06.000 be more successful. Bottom line. If you just have one 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:08.840 just to check the box, it's not gonna work. You 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.080 need two or three women, and then the whole company 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.400 is more successful. And that's proven over and over and over. 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.959 So we should get over it and just make it happen. 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.560 And thank you for repeating it, because that diversity advantage 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:26.400 needs to be stated over and over. Uh. And there's 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.800 so much evidence today to back up what you said 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:34.720 so compelling. Lee. We're i'll watching the Olympics now, and 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.600 I know that you teach sailing. You've also coached at 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:42.159 the Olympic level. Are any of your sailors in the 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.960 Tokyo Games? Yet? Quite a few of them. We have 0:17:45.119 --> 0:17:47.600 five different classes that train here out of oak Cliff, 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:52.159 with the forty nine FFS, which is forty nine or 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:55.800 men fex women for seventy men and women. The fin 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.960 which is single handed mail um and the Nacri seventeen 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:03.400 which is mixed co ed Catamran. So all of those 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:07.280 sailors in those classes have trained here and the United States, 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.760 and sailing is in a rebuilding phase. We really kind 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.120 of tried to shake things up literally twenty years ago 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.399 and it didn't work. It's a long process because the 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:21.080 sport of sailing is so complicated. It is not just 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.919 going out and being fit and strong and reaching your 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.560 peak when you're sixteen years old, because you have to 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:30.399 add that mental You have to have that experience again 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:32.679 that I talked about at the very beginning, The smell, 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:37.040 the feeling, the waves, the experience, have seen it before 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.040 will make you a better sailor and win. We're racist, 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:42.800 so we're in a rebuild year and right now in 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.080 those classes, half of them are in the top ten. 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:50.159 But we're we're holding on and which countries are the 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.680 best at sailing at this point it's um. It used 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:57.000 to be America, and then it used to be Great Britain, 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.320 and with the New Zealand in an Australian throw then 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:04.159 now it's quite broad and open. So a lot of 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:09.720 Scandinavian countries are good, Brazil is phenomenal, Australia, New Zealand, 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:12.960 England are all still pretty strong. And then occasionally you 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:17.960 have a you know, Japanese, Chinese, Thailand, um Guam. You 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:21.400 don't know, y'all. Come. It sounds like everybody's getting into 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:26.000 the game. Yep. So, as the professional sailor that you are, 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.680 when you're watching um Olympic sailing events on TV, what 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:34.760 do you watch for? I don't like watching because it 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:38.920 makes me nervous. But I'm sailine. I'm totally fine. If 0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:41.159 I know somebody and I want them to win, I'm 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.080 a basket case. It's always the case. It doesn't matter 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:48.200 if it's sailing or some other competition. Well, we've all 0:19:48.240 --> 0:19:51.600 been through a tough year, and I dare say it 0:19:51.720 --> 0:19:56.119 hasn't ended in terms of COVID, it's been rough. What 0:19:56.320 --> 0:19:59.160 gives you hope at this time? Oh? I am so 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.640 optimistic now. The first thing is for COVID. Because we 0:20:02.640 --> 0:20:06.159 were international in terms of our friends, we knew it 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:10.680 was coming. We locked in February five twenty. We had 0:20:10.760 --> 0:20:14.240 zero cases of COVID. We ran full programming, we started 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:17.720 a high school. We just came back from what could 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.480 have been the impossible of racing the Chicago and the 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:24.120 port here in Mackinaw with very small people on board 0:20:24.160 --> 0:20:28.280 the boat. Our average crew crew weight was one twenty 0:20:28.400 --> 0:20:33.560 and normally it's one ninety. So we did the first 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:36.560 race for first to finish. The second race we just 0:20:36.640 --> 0:20:39.840 got back from that. We were third in class, third overall, 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:44.280 first to finish, and we smashed and grabbed the course record, 0:20:45.200 --> 0:20:48.680 beating it by two hours. So I am in an upswing. 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:53.200 But also I'm seeing that people as long as we 0:20:53.240 --> 0:20:57.080 get these vaccination rates up and people wear masks out 0:20:57.080 --> 0:21:01.440 of courtesy, I'm seeing people going back to work, going 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.840 back to school. I'm getting more team building, more speaking. 0:21:06.200 --> 0:21:09.480 It's just I'm seeing it all happening. And yes, we 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.000 have to be careful, but when the news is making 0:21:12.080 --> 0:21:14.800 up stories about back to school supplies are going to 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:18.480 be more expensive, they're digging deep for the negative. Yeah, 0:21:18.600 --> 0:21:22.119 and I'm so glad you mentioned again the importance of 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:27.159 getting those vaccination rates up. Well, we're reach that point 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:31.000 unfortunately where we're at the end of our conversation. But 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.440 I can't thank you enough on behalf of our listeners, John, 0:21:34.520 --> 0:21:38.400 this has been just tremendously illuminating for those of us 0:21:38.440 --> 0:21:41.840 who don't know sailing as much as we might. Thank 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.040 you for making us understand what it's like, for sharing 0:21:45.080 --> 0:21:48.560 that experience, and also for telling us so much more 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:54.040 about it's importance, particularly in developing women's leadership and the 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:58.879 diversity advantage. So thank you, Don Riley, that sailing legend 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:01.720 that you are. Thank you so much and come visit 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:06.879 me at Oak Cliff Sailing and Oyster Bay anything that 0:22:07.119 --> 0:22:10.359 was great. There's so much we can learn about life 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:14.920 and leadership from sailing icon Don Riley. Here are three 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:20.040 things I took from that conversation. First, when women break 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:23.600 a glass ceiling, whether it's in sports or business, they 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:28.280 have a responsibility to help others come in behind them. 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:33.080 As John says, the real final frontier is having somebody 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:36.560 to pull you up, and that means having enough women 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:41.200 in leadership to influence who gets picked or hired, because 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:44.679 if there's just one woman on a team or a board, 0:22:45.320 --> 0:22:51.200 it's harder for change to happen. Second, as we've heard before, 0:22:51.800 --> 0:22:56.439 diversity is an advantage for any team, and sailing women 0:22:56.480 --> 0:23:00.199 bring something special to a crew. Don says the they 0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:05.679 are often slightly unsure of themselves, and that surprisingly is 0:23:05.720 --> 0:23:10.720 a good thing. Women's uncertainty causes them to think through 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:18.240 problems rather than just jumping to hasty conclusions. Finally, it's 0:23:18.280 --> 0:23:22.800 important that girls be involved in sports. John reminds us 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:27.000 that so many women leaders trace their success to having 0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:31.680 played competitive sports in high school or college. It teaches 0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:35.359 them how to win, how to lose, and how to 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:39.959 keep going. Tune in next Thursday to hear about our 0:23:40.040 --> 0:23:44.480 next featured woman and discover why she's one of Seneca's 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:49.000 one Women to Hear. Seneca's one hundred Women to Hear 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:52.159 is a collaboration between the Seneca Women Podcast Network and 0:23:52.160 --> 0:23:55.679 I Heart Radio, with support from founding partner Pung. Have 0:23:55.800 --> 0:23:56.400 a Great Day.