Ann Davison

Who was Ann Davison?

Ann Davison was, at the age of 39, the first woman to single-handedly sail the Atlantic Ocean. She departed Plymouth, England in her 23 foot boat Felicity Ann on May 18, 1952. She landed in Brittany, Portugal, Morocco and the Canary Islands, before setting sail across the Atlantic on 20 November 1952, aiming to make land-fall in Antigua. In the event storms pushed her south and having been driven past Barbados she eventually touched land in Dominica on January 23, 1953. After an extended stopover in the Caribbean she sailed north to Florida and finally to New York by way of the Intercoastal Waterway.

Her autobiographical account was published as My Ship is so Small. The Felicity Ann, built by Mashford Bros of Creymll in 1939, has recently been in private possession in Haines, Alaska undergoing initial restoration, but has now been donated to the Northwest School of Boatbuilding in Port Hadlock for further restoration. The original design for Felicity Ann and three other identical hulls are from 1936. Design was by Mr. Sid Mashford. Of the three sister yachts built at Mashfords, three remain, of which one is actively sailed.