In our special 45th anniversary collector's issue we feature prominent sailors telling us about their favorite boat. In the issue, on newsstands now, Skip Novak, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Buddy Melges, Bill Pinkney, Gary Jobson and JJ Fetter write about their favorite boats.

In this special online-only story, America's Cup veteran Dawn Riley writes about her favorite boats. Read the rest of them in the September issue of SAILING Magazine, or stay tuned to www.sailingmagazine.net to read more in coming weeks.

My favorite boat is … I have no idea.  They are kind of like guys I've dated: each one has something sexy and special. Firefly, a beautiful mahogany bright red and varnished Great Lakes Cutter, was the boat on which I discovered sailing. Probably culminating in the relatively short trip where us three kids delivered her through a significant squall and up the St. Clair River, holding our own under sail against a 3-knot current and pulling into port due to a split in the engine exhaust tube. I was 13, my sister Dana was 11, and brother Todd was 8 and we handled it all just fine. Talk about a self-confidence boost.

A J/22 is at the other end of the spectrum and a great little boat on which I discovered my groove- match racing at the Santa Maria Cup.

And then there were the boats that you just step on and it is a perfect match. Like that first time your eyes meet across the bar. USA 18, Defiance, was one of those boats. The moment I stepped aboard I could feel the electricity. She was a huge step up from USA 9 (aka the lab rat) and USA 2 (aka the Scud).  And you could feel it just in the way she floated, and then sails up and we were off. Buddy Melges would cock his head and get her "talking to the waves'" up the backside and down the front.

Speaking of America's Cup boats, America True was breakthrough as well. There was a lot of pressure; I had sunk my life savings (such as they were) into the project, and a whole lot of others had contributed from Chris Coffin down to the $3 and a can of peaches a homeless man had given me. All of us had worked through many sleepless nights to spend every penny as efficiently as possible to gain every advantage we could afford or think up. Designer Phil Kaiko was understandably nervous as we all were. Once again, I stepped on board and smiled. "Don't worry Phil. We have a winner."  And she performed spectacularly.

Finally, the Corel 45.  We won the One Ton Worlds onboard Faster K-Yote 1 in Saint Tropez but I had bonded with the design before that. I sailed on Tom Neill's Correl 45 Nitemare at the SORC. I didn't know the team when I came onboard but within a day there were friendships that will last a lifetime.

So maybe that is the key – boats are like guys and guys are like boats but a great combination of the two is the best.

Dawn Riley was the first person to sail in three America's Cups and two Whitbread Round the World races. She was the first woman to manage an America's Cup campaign, America True, and is a past president of the Women's Sports Foundation. She is the executive director of Oakcliff Sailing Center, which is dedicated to training sailors, boat workers, owners and teams in order to raise the level of sailors and sailing in the United States.