Collection: At the Wheel

In the masculine world of competitive sailing, women have had to work to prove themselves. They’ve shown the guts, courage, and passion to compete and to excel. While 21st-century women continue to take on new challenges and record new “firsts,” the Rosenfeld Collection photographs document a long history of women’s accomplishments at the wheel.

Here we see women racing speedboats, competing in prestigious sailboat races, heaving the lines, or simply enjoying a well-executed maneuver. From Mrs. Phyllis Sopwith at the helm of a 1930s America’s Cup yacht to 1960s dinghy sailors braving a January sea, the women in these photographs display confidence, skill, and an intense desire to be part of the action.