Although female and only 27 years old, Faraday Rosenberg is currently skipper of the much-acclaimed W-class White Wings. She is the first of 1993 Antigua Yacht Club Summer Sailing Course group to go on and get her captain's ticket at age 18; her intense passion for sailing combined with sheer hard work have made her what she is today.
The unusually-named Faraday (her mother was inspired by a good friend who was a relation of the famous Michael Faraday) was born into sailing and spent much of her childhood cruising with her parents on Ghostboat. She was 11 when she started sailing Optimists and took part in the Antigua Yacht Club's Summer Sailing Course run by former Antiguan Olympic champions Carl James and Karen Porche. (Most of this group are still in the yachting industry and had a joyous reunion in January 2009 after meeting up on Facebook!)
This course thoroughly whetted Faraday's appetite for sailing and she went on to work summers at the Trinidad Yacht Club and the New York Sag Yacht Club. After finishing school, she went to the UK Sailing Academy at Cowes and gained her Yachtmaster at 18, the minimum age for holding this license.
Faraday's main interest was in racing sailboats and she went on to gain much experience in this field, starting on such boats as the Sydney 60 Yes in the Caribbean, the Farr 60s Highland Fling and Numbers and also racing Swans and Baltic Yachts. She has crossed the pond nine times in her career, working the cruiser/racer scene mainly as Mate on Swans, participating in all the major regattas in the Mediterranean (her favorite), the Caribbean and the USA.
She has also gained valuable experience from other boats, such as Pace, Valkyrie, Alegra, Nikata, Crackerjack, Tiketitan as well as from doing various deliveries. She worked for over two years as Mate on the Swan 60 Bellarose, doing the Mediterranean/Caribbean regattas. In 2005, she competed in the Crew Selection Process for TEAM ABN AMRO "boat 2," for the Volvo Ocean Race. She got through to final eight of the American Candidates and furthest female in entire selection process. In all she spent nine years constantly working and racing.
At one point, Faraday suddenly asked herself if this was the life she really wanted. Her interest in fashion and design prompted her to sign on for a course in fashion marketing in the UK. Whereas her marks were not bad and designing was very exciting, she only lasted two semesters: her passion for the sea was stronger, and she returned, reassured, to the life she found both highly exhilarating and deeply satisfactory.
Faraday decided that she would base her career on racing with the ultimate aim of running her own boat. The hard work and passion paid off in October last year when she was offered the job of skippering the W-class White Wings. Faraday was in the Mediterranean when the offer came in August, and had already made plans for the months to come. However, the call of the W was stronger and with much gratitude and anticipation, she decided to go with White Wings.
She started her new job in Newport, going on to St Barth, where White Wings won her class the New Year's Eve Regatta. In 2010, she plans to take part in the Heineken in St. Martin, the Caribbean 600 and the Antiguan regattas—the Classic and Sailing Week, returning to the island that was her initial inspiration. Then there is the Bucket in St. Barth and the brand new Voile de St. Barth (the Caribbean equivalent of the Voile de St Tropez), followed by the BVI Spring Regatta.
Faraday is fully aware of the increased responsibility that being a Captain involves; she is answerable not only to her chef and to her mate, but also to the owners, guests and crew as a whole. She is delighted to be involved in the W-class program and is typically very modestly grateful for the opportunity. She is determined to prove her worth as skipper (which, judging from her previous record should not be too difficult!) and build up her reputation.
In the future, Faraday Rosenberg would perhaps like to move onto a Swan with a racing program, but for the moment is very happy to be where she is. She is living proof that hard work DOES pay off, despite a young age and gender, especially when combined with such a deep passion for the sea.
Gilly Gobinet, a biologist and former Eurocrat, took up permanent residence on Antigua in the Caribbean in 1984. She has been painting and writing – and sailing – ever since. Her work can be seen at originalcaribbeanart.com.
