Rocking the Boat

Gripping the wheel with all her strength, Dawn Riley held on for life as another 30-foot wave crashed onto the weather-beaten boat. Harnessed in so that she didn't get washed overboard, Riley knew it was no longer about winning, it was merely about staying alive.

Battered and bruised, Riley and her all-female crew, survived the treacherous conditions of the 1993-94 Whitbread Round the World Race.

Now Riley is facing her next biggest challenge...the America's Cup 2000. Although sailing can be dangerous, Riley is prepared.

"Sometimes you are dealing with the most extreme conditions, like gale force winds and icebergs," Riley said. "But in the America's Cup the danger is the fact that we are racing one-on-one and the boats are very powerful. A crash can kill."

The America's Cup is the oldest trophy in professional sports and the most prestigious sailing race in the world. The competition began in 1851 when the Royal Yacht Squadron of England challenged sailors to an international yacht race. The winning team was to be awarded a silver trophy and be known as the world's best sailors.

Riley is the first women ever to manage an America's Cup team, AmericaTrue.

"I like to think the challenges associated with being a woman have gone away and there are only challenges as a person...but then something happens to remind me that we are not looked at quite the same," Riley said.

Riley is no stranger to the America's Cup. She was part of the winning America3 crew in 1992 and was captain of the all-woman crew, America3, in 1995. Riley is the only American who has been a member of two America's Cup and two Whitbread Round the World teams.

Riley grew up sailing in Michigan. At age 13 she realized that sailing was her passion, so she began working in a boat yard doing maintenance work. She paid her way through college at the University of Michigan by being a boat captain.

One thing Riley enjoys about sailing is that it's never boring. "There is the competition on the water, the beauty of sailing and then the challenge of raising funds to be able to continue," Riley said.

Although Riley is currently in the lime light, she has different plans after the America's Cup is over. "I would like to fade into anonymity and just go sailing," she said.

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