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Women’s Involvement Growing at Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta

Derek Redd

WHEELING -- When Becky Cravens began racing powerboats in the 1990s, she could count the number of other women she'd see as fellow drivers on one hand with fingers to spare.

Fast forward to now and, while the vintage powerboat racing community is still mostly men, the scales have moved closer to an even balance. More women are sitting in the cockpits at events like this past weekend's Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta at Heritage Port.

And those women would love to see more join their ranks. They'll be ready to greet them and continue to work at growing the sport so future generations of women feel welcomed into a group they consider one big family.

"For me growing up, it was a big-boy sport," Cravens said. "I was my dad's only girl ... I was my dad's only anything, so I had to be boy and girl. So for me to grow up like that, it was just kind of lonely. But now I've got sisters, so that's kind of cool."

The female drivers at the Wheeling Regatta all said their inclusion in the sport feels like a sisterhood. There were six women driving boats at Heritage Port -- Cravens, Julie Joseph, Kristen Cox, Anne Glasgow, Leia Glasgow and Rachel Anspach.

That was great to see for Debbie Joseph, the co-chair of the Regatta with husband Dr. Dan Joseph. It's even more poignant for her because two of those drivers are family -- her daughter Cox and sister-in-law Julie Joseph. Debbie Joseph's daughter Annie Bernacki also has piloted boats at past regattas.

"It's a very good thing to see women compete as equals," Debbie Joseph said, "because when they're in these boats, they truly compete as equals with the men.

"There are so many sports where women are not equals," she continued, "and it's wonderful to have something like this where you can put a woman or a younger girl who's 18 years old and she can go out and really drive these boats."

Most of the women drivers this past weekend were those younger girls driving boats. Anne Glasgow was 15 when she first piloted a raceboat and had been around the sport since childhood with her family. Younger sister Leia Glasgow joined the fun around four years after Anne Glasgow started.

Anne Glasgow appreciates the camaraderie not only between women drivers, but between all the drivers at events like the Wheeling Regatta. She especially likes the atmosphere of the Wheeling Regatta because of the family feeling she gets from all the drivers. Wheeling's event is an exhibition rather than competitive races, so it's more fun for her to get out on the water.

She admits there have been races at other sites and in other sports -- she also competes in dirt-track racing -- where other drivers are skeptical of women behind the wheel.

"People can pass judgment," she said. "But at the end of the day, we just show them that we're just as good and they pretty much shut up really quick."

Powerboats as a family tradition has been the reason why many women become drivers. Cox said her parents had taken her to events since she was a few months old and she has been racing boats since 2003.

Cox remembers seeing just a handful of women drivers in her younger days, but the sport has grown to a point where the Wheeling Regatta has run all-woman heats. Cox and the other women racers said that the best part of this growth is that their participation has become commonplace. It's not that they're female drivers. They're just drivers.

"I think it's a great example to set for our kids," she said. "They don't have to look at it and say, 'Wow, Mommy drives a boat.' It's 'Mommy and Daddy both drive a boat, and I can, too.'"

Julie Joseph watched her husband Brian race for a few years before climbing in the cockpit herself. Now, she's been racing for about 12 years, and she not only enjoys the friendships she's made with other women drivers, she appreciates the help all the drivers offer for her and other women to grow in the sport.

"You feel supported," she said. "They're wonderful to be around. They're supportive and helpful. They guide you if you need guidance."

The women racers of the present want to offer that guidance to future generations interested in the sport. Cox said her daughter Kylie wants to start racing when she turns 16. Julie Joseph's daughter Tesla is a regular at the races and could carry on the family tradition.

Anne Glasgow sees her 3-year-old niece Jolene and how much she already enjoys the powerboat racing that has become so integral to her family. She can't wait to help shepherd Jolene into the sport.

"I didn't have a lot of female role models in the racing community, so I'm glad there are as many for that now," she said. "So when Jolene is old enough, she'll be driving one of these things, probably one of the super-fast ones.

"I know she's going to do that one day and I feel really honored that I'll get to be someone she'll look up to," she added, "not just as a driver, but as her aunt and as a girl."