Born in Sale in Cheshire in 1899, the wayward daughter of a well-off Manchester butcher,
Win Brown became an outstanding sportswoman and aviator. She played hockey and ice
hockey (although she could hardly skate) for England and was a low handicap golfer.
She took up flying and, in 1930, she was the first (and last) woman to win the prestigious
King’s Cup Air Race around England. By now a national celebrity, she made a canoe
voyage in the upper Amazon before turning to sailing.
Her drive and ambition soon took her and her constant companion Ron Adams, both novices,
on three long and hazardous voyages from Wales to Norway in her small boat—including
one to Spitsbergen in the Arctic. War came and claimed the love of her life, Einar
Sverdrup. Then a baby, family break-up and financial problems changed everything
and she and young Tony moved to London where he trained as an actor. As Tony’s career
blossomed, she mingled with his friends, always outrageous, always fun. Later, she
moved to the south coast, drank with the cream of the yachting fraternity and spent
her later years living on Tony’s stylish motor yacht in various harbours.
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