Authors Electric

Golden Globe prizegiving  'Ou est le capitaine? has long been one of the more irritating FAQs for solo women sailors and members of all-female crews, as on-shore officials or casual passers-by look automatically for the man in charge. Perhaps it’s finally falling out of use in the wake of consistent female achievement? Look at Barry Pickthall’s photo of the crowds at Les Sables D’Olonne cheering Kirsten Neuschäfer, winner of the 2022-23 Golden Globe Race: consider 80-year-old Jeanne Socrates, the oldest person (not woman) to have sailed round the world alone and unassisted via the Southern Ocean’s five great capes, who has recently set out again to cruise across the Pacific. Last year I wrote about the appointment of Jude Terry as Britain’s first female Admiral and  the achievement of England’s  Lionesses  football team, building on the determination of their 20th predecessors . Currently the military buzz is around Lt General Sharon Nesmith possibly becoming the ...

  Photo to accompany Lionesses' letter to the  candidates for PM, asking for better opportunities   for girls football The football Lionesses who caught our hearts as well as winning the European Cup were clear that they were a fortunate generation, building on the stubbornness of those who’d gone before. Interviewees referred to the players of the c20th who’d given their own money and time, as well as their hearts and skills, to the game they loved.  Not everyone was prepared to gloss over past rejections. The clubs who’d refused to host their games because ‘no one’s interested in women’s football,’ weren’t going to be forgiven and forgotten, as the team packed Wembley Stadium with a record 87,192 attendance and won the first major competition for England since 1966. Former player turned presenter, Alex Scott, said, ‘Let’s just remind ourselves as well, back in 2018, we were begging people to host in their stadiums a women’s game for this Euros. So many people ...