From Deckhand to Captain: My Journey Breaking Barriers in the Male-Dominated Superyacht World
Sandy Yawn has worked in yachting for more than three decades. She says that as a woman, she had to work harder to prove herself in the industry. The Below Deck Mediterranean star shared advice with BI for other women in male-dominated fields. This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Sandy Yawn, a superyacht captain and star of 'Below Deck Mediterranean.' The following has been edited for length and clarity. When I started my yachting career more than 30 years ago, I'd never seen a woman captain. Women worked on ships, but they were few and far between in the world of yachts, and I'd never seen one at the helm. I fell into yachting, or maybe the job found me. When I started working maintenance on boats, I had no idea yachting could be a career. Decades later, I'm a superyacht captain. I want to create opportunities for other women to get into this industry. For a long time, I didn't have any fema...