World Championships 2023, The Hague, the Netherlands
Interview by Joe Cooper
We left off at the end of Part 3 with Betsy discovering she was the only person on record to have had the type of medical case she had. In Part 4, we hear about a much more gratifying record.
Coop: OK, so you’ve survived a ‘out there’ species of cancer AND surgery. What was the question you asked yourself, in November 2022, where the answer was ‘Let’s go do this regatta in The Netherlands?’
BA: Funny you ask. It was not at all to do a regatta. I was on massive amounts of painkillers before the surgery, because as the tumor grew it was pressing against my sciatic nerve and it was pretty brutal. Then after the surgery, my oncologist described the amount of work done inside me as though a bomb had blown up around my hip. I was taking narcotics for a long time but all it did was dull the pain, it never affected my mental state. Now, I knew this regatta was in August, and that the organizers would conduct drug testing of the competitors. So, my primary goal for going to that regatta was to get off the narcotics and I did that in three and a half weeks.
Coop: That kind of withdrawal from drugs is pretty fast too?
BA: Uh huh. I could’ve taken other pain meds but not narcotics, but my big motivator was getting off the painkillers.
My second motivation was to prove to myself that I could once again travel alone. The sailing was the bonus on top. That’s why I sailed in that World Championship. I wanted to prove I could be independent again. I knew there would be drug testing so competing in the regatta was the carrot, if you will. I used that (mentally) to get off the painkillers. You know, we wonder what motivates people. Well, I don’t like taking meds at the best of times, so getting off those drugs was really a big motivator for me. I had been in pain and on medications for so long, while this was developing, pre-operation and post-op. It was time to cut the tether.
Coop: Can you drive a car?
BA: Oh yes, I am normal except one leg is shorter than the other. It sinks into the void because there’s no bone structure. The thing I have to do is use two forearm crutches. I cannot walk without support because I have no stability in that hip, and it’s difficult for me to stand, independently, on my left leg. There are stability issues where I don’t fully trust my left leg. It’s tricky. But the fact of the matter is I live, I drive, I can walk up and down stairs, not fast but I do it. I cannot run, I cannot walk long distances…Does that stop me walking say half a mile, a mile? No, I can walk that distance, just not quickly. I cannot stand up if my knees are higher than my hips. If I was sitting in a dinghy, I could not get up unless I used both hands to push off. So, sailing dinghies again? Not in my future. Or something like, say, the IC37s. I could not get across the boat, safely and confidently. There are things I’m still learning about what my limitations are, what I will be able to do and not do, but it’s just another thing to figure out.
COOP: Tell me about the thinking before the regatta; the process of getting your brain on board with the idea of “I can do this.”
BA: The sailing is no different than any other regatta. The motivation for me was very different. It was not to go out and win a world championship, it was to get off the meds. The minute I got into the boat, I thought, “I know how to do this.” It was like getting on a bike. The sailing was not the difficult part. That was getting there.
I understand that’s not how most sailors would look at competing in a world championship, but it just happened to be a world championship regatta. If it had been a lesser event or anything that fit the mold of getting me, helping me, off the narcotics and letting me travel I still would’ve done it. I really would not have cared had I finished first or last; the sailing was the bonus. In my mind, the big win was getting there and being able to function there. Actually winning the event was mind boggling, frankly. It was not what I expected. There were some very, very good sailors in that fleet.
Coop: And you had never set foot in that boat before…?
BA: No. But maybe a contributing factor was that I was not overthinking the regatta. I just went and sailed and did all the things I have spent my life doing. I’d already reached my goal by being there. All the sailing things – tactics, strategy, windshifts, starts, it was all there. And there was no pressure, no one or no thing leaning on me to WIN the regatta. In fact, I was OCS in one of the early races and I said to myself, “That sucks. I’d better not do that again (chuckles).” And I had a breakdown in another race, right off the starting line my mainsheet tackle exploded and by the time I jury rigged it the fleet was halfway up the beat. I thought “You better catch some boats”. You just buckle down and do what you know how to do based on all the training and races that had gone before. That was how I approached the regatta. I was so happy I was there. I love sailing in The Netherlands, though I’d never been to that venue before. There were other Americans there. We had a little kind of impromptu Team USA, and I was surrounded by good people who were really supportive.
Coop: Ah, great stuff. Last two questions, and the first is around the sexual component of harassment of women in sailing, which hopefully is slowing a little bit…Have you been in situations where you’re thinking, “Hey buddy, back off. What you’re doing here is not right”?
BA: I personally have not had that experience. I’ve never been put in a comprising situation, nor felt physically threatened by anyone. However, I will say this, and this is a good lesson for young women sailors coming up in the sport. I do think you should believe in yourself, in your own strengths, and not be pressured into crewing when your ambition is to steer. Don’t let yourself get pigeonholed into a role you don’t want. I have found, as a women sailor, I had to prove myself to be accepted as a sailor as opposed to “Oh, those are just the girls.” For example, when I was sailing J/24s here in Newport, we had 50 boats out on Thursday nights. We were one of the first teams to sail with six, and the guys were poo-pooing it: “Oh, there are not enough jobs in the boat for six people.” We did it for weight reasons, but we had plenty of jobs for all six of us.
We were sailing at big regattas – the New Englands, North Americans, East Coast Championships, the Newport Regatta – they were all super-big, 80-100 boats. We started finishing in the top ten, then in the top five with an all-women’s crew, and we were getting faster.
We were sailing in the local fleet against Kenny Read and some of the other guys, and we learned from them. We were consistently finishing in the top group all the time, and that’s when the stigma of being a female team went away because we had proved ourselves as sailors within that segment of the community. It was not a fluke: “These girl sailors as good as we are” so we won their respect, but we had to work hard at it. It was not as quickly accepted as if we were guys. For me, it was having to prove myself time and time again before being a woman was not a factor.
Coop: Right, and that is a constant theme. Martha Parker told me that John Kolius would refer to the guys and she called him on it one day and he said, “But you’re just one of the guys.” It was that acceptance of being a member of the crew, based on merit.
BA: One thing I do think about is that the “one of the guys” meme is not prevalent today. In high school and college, the girls get told “Oh, you go and sail the girls’ races.” I think this is changing, though. At big open regattas you do see more women steering. But in Team racing less so – in the Hinman and whatnot we don’t see that many women skippers yet. I don’t think we need separate events for women. I think if the girls are given the same opportunities as the guys to steer as they are given for crewing positions, we’d see even more women breaking out into steering and leadership roles. I was glad to see one of the boats in the Intercollegiate Offshore Regatta at Larchmont last fall was steered by a woman. I hope the girls and young women are standing up for what they want, and if they want to steer, and can do it, then steer…and not feel pressured into sailing in positions they’re not looking to develop their own skills in. They need to feel comfortable enough in their skills so they can advocate for themselves.
I know it’s still a battle across the board because of the demographics. Sailing is vastly more men than women, but if you can be confident and prove yourself as a SAILOR, that will go a long way.
Coop: OK, last words of advice for a high school girl looking to get better in sailing?
BA: Learn to be independent. Know how to work on your own boat. Learn how to trouble-shoot failures, broken boat parts, and so on. Learn how to analyze when you’re not in the (fleet) place you want to be. And stand up for yourself.
COOP: Great advice. Betsy Alison, thanks so much for sharing lots of hard-earned wisdom here. Much appreciated.
BA: Thanks, Coop. My pleasure. ■
