Betty Brewin Magnusson

Commodore - Monomoy Yacht Club

Class of 1949 - A.A. Associate of Arts

Betty Brewin Magnusson is the first woman to be named Commodore of Monomoy Yacht Club in Chatham, Massachusetts. Since the club's inception in 1937, all the commodores elected before her were men. Magnusson, the 25th commodore, brings to the club decades of experience on the water. Her first boating experience came as a student at William Woods.

"My first boating experience came when I was in college, when I took canoeing as one of my physical education courses," she recalled. "I loved canoeing. I learned how to empty a canoe, and what to do when you get in trouble," she remembers. Magnusson graduated from William Woods in 1949 and then Washington University School of Medical Technology and became a registered medical technologist.

Betty and her husband, Leonard Magnusson, joined the Monomoy Yacht Club in 1995 to gain more knowledge and experience from other sailors. Betty was elected secretary of the club in 1998 and from there worked her way up to full commodore. Betty currently serves on the board for the Council on Aging for the Town of Chatham and is Secretary of Pleasant Bay Community Boating, a non-profit organization that teaches sailing and rowing in Chatham.

Betty and her husband continue to sail whenever they can on their boat, a 37' Pacific Seacraft cutter which they affectionately named "Rejoice."