Women on board

From a Jacobite heroine to a world record holder, many women have shown their love of the sea

Flora Macdonald was visiting her family on Benbecula in the Outer Hebrides when Charles Stuart and a small group of aides took refuge there after the Battle of Culloden in June 1746. The island was controlled by a pro-government militia commanded by Flora’s stepfather, Hugh Macdonald but, despite this, she agreed to help the fugitive prince to escape in a small boat to Skye with Charles disguised as an Irish maid. She was arrested but released under a general amnesty in June 1747.

Skipper Thuridur is one of the world’s earliest female sailors. Born in 1777 in Iceland, she was only 11 years old when she joined her father’s fishing crew to become a sailor. Her perfect skills, especially rowing and steering of heavy wooden open boats, made her one of the most efficient fishing captains in the world. Her ability to sail in all sea conditions helped her not to lose a single crew for many years.

Lighthouse keeper’s daughter Grace Darling was just 22 when she took part in the rescue of five people from the paddle steamer the Forfarshire. Spotting the wreck on rocks from an upstairs window of her Northumberland home on September 7, 1838, Darling and her father William braved rough seas to row nearly a mile out to the wreck, and rescue four men and a woman. Her bravery made her a national heroine.

Sailor Shirley Robertson, 53, became the first British woman to win two Olympic gold medals at consecutive games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. The Scot was named female World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation in 2000. She is also the only woman to take the helm on the superyacht circuit steering the stunning 45-metre Salperton in three regattas in the Caribbean and Sardina.

Dame Ellen Macarthur, 45, broke the world record for the fastest solo circumnavigation of the globe, completing the 27,354 nautical mile trip in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes, and 33 seconds. She beat the previous record by one day, eight hours, 35 minutes, and 49 seconds. Now retired, she set up the Ellen Macarthur Cancer Trust, which takes young people recovering from serious illnesses sailing, to help them recover their self confidence.