Elizabeth "Betsy" Gelentis Alison is an American sailor who has been voted Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year five times. She was inducted into the United States'

National Sailing Hall of Fame The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating i ...

in 2011

Sailing history

Alison started sailing sunfish as a child at the behest of her father and, while she did not initially enjoy it, she rapidly enjoyed being with her friends on

Barnegat Bay Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is separated from the Atlantic by the long Island Beach State Park (colloquially called a "ba ...

. Starting in 1977, Alison sailed on Upper Mystic Lake while a college student at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

, and there she learned the technical aspects of racing from her fellow teammates. In 1981 she was received honorable mention for college All-American sailor. Alison has won numerous events during her sailing career. In 1985, Alison won her first Rolex International Women's Keelboat championship, thereby receiving the Bengt Julin trophy. She won four additional times, and the original trophy was retired to her after 1997 when she earned it for the third consecutive year. In 1998 Alison won Women's Match Racing event at the ISAF Sailing World Championships held in Dubai, UAE and was honored with her first ISAF World Sailor of the Year award. Sailing with Lee Icyda and Suzy Leech, Alison won the 2003 Open

Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

World Championship held in Rostock, Germany which was the first time an all-woman's crew won the Open Yngling World Championship. in 1998 Alison began coaching the US team for the World Disabled Sailing Championship and is the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider Paraolympic coach. She played a key role in the 1996 revision of the Disabled Sailing Manual revision and, as of 2021, Alison is the Chair of the Para World Sailing Committee.

Awards

In 1990 and 1991 she won the

Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Trophy The Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Trophy, or Adams Cup for short, was the competition for the United States Women's Sailing Championship. The donor of the award was Francis Lovering Adams the wife of Charles Francis Adams III, former Secretary to the N ...

. In 2009, Alison received the Gay S. Lynn Memorial Trophy for her work with adaptive sailing and sailors with disabilities. In 2011 Alison was in the first group of sailors, and the only woman, elected into the United States'

. In 2015, Alison won the President's Development Award from the International Sailing Federation (ISAF, known as

World Sailing World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). History The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) beg ...

as of 2015) who recognized her for outstanding achievement in her work on the

Para World Sailing Championships The Para World Sailing Championships is an annual World Championship multi-class sailing regatta in para classes organised by the World Sailing. Editions Medalists 2.4 Metre SKUD 18 Sonar Men's Hansa 303 Women's Hansa 303 Referen ...

in 2015.

References

External links

* , November 13, 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Alison, Betsy American female sailors (sport) Living people Tufts University alumni 1960 births