Mary Wells began her sailing career in 1948 at the tender age of 6, when her parents started racing a Lightning and put her and her younger sister under the deck to keep them out of the way. She sailed Lightnings and Thistles through her teenage years until the family purchased a Shark catamaran in 1960. She has been hooked on cats ever since. She became a world champion in 1993, crewing for her sister Betty, when they won the Hobie 18 Women's Worlds.
