Numerous women have played a key role in shaping the development of racing on the water, even if many of these names are not as well known today as they should be. Here are four female racers whose biographies are representative of many women's racing history.
Dorothy Levitt: First speed record for a woman
Dorothy Levitt is best known today for her car records. In addition to her successes in a racing car, she also set several records on the water. Back in 1903, for example, she won the traditional Harmsworth Cup in Ireland and broke the speed record for women at the time.
The former typist at the engine manufacturer Napier & Son became one of the first genuine brand ambassadors in motorsport history. In addition to her driving talent, Levitt was also an accomplished mechanic who was able to maintain her boats and cars independently, even under racing conditions. At the age of just 21, she was known as a pioneer in motorsport and set the world's first water speed record for women in 1903. Read our detailed portrait to find out how she became the "fastest woman in the world" and made history with a simple hand mirror.
Joe Carstairs: racing legend and queer style icon
It would be impossible to summarise Joe Carstairs' life in two paragraphs. As the granddaughter of a Standard Oil co-founder, she uncompromisingly invested her immense fortune in expensive racing boats to achieve maximum speed on the water. With her financial background, her technical expertise from the First World War and her penchant for fast boats, she achieved the world record for the fastest water speed by a woman in 1927.
Away from racing, she lived out her homosexuality openly and fundamentally rejected the rigid gender concepts of her time. From her service on the war front to building her own island kingdom in the Bahamas, she remained one of the most eccentric figures of the 20th century. Find out how she led an entire island nation and why she never shied away from danger, even in times of war, in the full portrait.
Betty Cook: World champion in offshore racing
In 1977, at the age of 54, Betty Cook became the first woman in history to win the Offshore UIM World Championship. She only found her way to water racing late in life, at the age of 47, by chance: after all, a bet with a friend was to pave the way for her world career.
With her height of 1.63 metres, she steered the 9,000 pound boats and prevailed against the established and exclusively male competition. Find out how she compensated for her physical disadvantage with a special technique and became one of the most successful female offshore racers of all time in our detailed portrait.
Mathilda Wiberg: First victory for a woman in UIM Formula 2
Mathilda Wiberg made motorsport history in 2025. She was the first woman ever to secure the world championship title in an official formula class of motorised racing on water in the UIM F2 World Championship. Born into a racing-enthusiastic family, her talent for racing was nurtured from an early age. She contested her first official race in 2016 at the age of 13 in the GT15 class, the internationally recognised junior competition for entry into professional powerboat racing.
Today, her work is not limited to her own racing career. Alongside her racing commitments, she also takes on management tasks in the E1 Series electric racing series. Read our in-depth portrait to find out how she made the leap to the top of the world and why she is already training the next generation of drivers in her early 20s.
David Ingelfinger
Volontär
