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Learning from Fellow FWSA Sailors
- Susan St. John
- Jan 29
- 4 min read
Written by Anne Chotkowski and Pam Miller
Photos from Nancy Marik
The FWSA education day on January 12, 2026, was a huge success. Of the 79 sailors who registered, 74 of our local sailors and one from the Halifax Sailing Association gathered in the upstairs dining room at Davis Island Yacht Club for registration and to enjoy coffee, tea, and breakfast pastries.
The day began with a welcome from FWSA president, Pam Miller (Bitter End), and an introduction for each presenter and their topic by FWSA Education Chair, Anne Chotkowski (Bitter End).
To start the day, Miriam Staveley (Bitter End) gave a flag presentation in which she helped attendees find ways to link each flag to something familiar or easy to visualize using mnemonics.
Next, Lisa Brown Ehrhart (Luffing Lassie) gave a presentation on high wind sailing techniques, which focused on optimizing a sailor’s strengths in heavier winds to make the sailing journey the very best that it could be.
The Safety at Sea presenter, Cheryl Lowery (National Women’s Sailing Association), was too ill to attend. Still, her open time slot allowed the committee to move Emily Wagner’s (Dinghy Dame) presentation, ‘Friendly Physics for Sailors, not Physicists,’ so it didn’t conflict with Lisa Ehrhart’s presentation. This worked well and was a good lesson for next year to not schedule key presentations at the same time. Emily discussed the forces being applied to the boat and how to respond to them efficiently, and sailors commented that her PowerPoint presentation really brought the scenarios presented to life.
The day started very chilly, and FWSA VP Susie Colunio (Dinghy Dame) was able to convince the DIYC Restaurant Manager to allow the presentations and regifting to take place in the upstairs dining room, rather than on the deck. Luckily, by lunchtime, the sun came out, and the wind had died down, so everyone went outside to enjoy the fresh air and eat the lunch provided by “Chicken Salad Chick,” organized by Susie. Resounding positive feedback was received on the quality of the boxed lunch.
The afternoon session provided the opportunity to choose from 3 different activities. The Opti and Pram sailors had an energized roundtable discussion with Carol Hansen (Broad Reacher/Salty Sister), Miriam Staveley, and Lisa Brown Ehrhart, discussing logistics and the kind of events that they would like to participate in the future. Linda Schwartz (Luffing Lassie) demonstrated how to install the “Modified Gust Adjust/Jenn’s Rig” system as a means of depowering the sail when the wind increases, and a sailor is unable to keep their boat flat by hiking out. At the same time, Carrie Greene (Dinghy Dame) gave a lively discussion on “All Boats Team Racing.” One of the sailors commented that she learned ten new things about team racing, and others expressed that they would like to form their own team to compete in team racing. All clubs were encouraged to try out team racing on one of their regular race days.
Breaks throughout the day allowed sailors to shop at the regifting store and buy raffle tickets for a Shelby painting of Opti boats sailing on the bay that was donated by Caroline Young, a Dinghy Dame, who is a sailing coach at MIT. Sue Carroll of the Bitter Ends was the ultimate winner of the painting. Initially, Chansi Harrow (Dinghy Dame) won the painting, but since she is on the YWSYA Committee, she asked that another ticket be pulled. Very generous, Chansi! Regifting sales and the raffle netted $1,519.36 for the Young Women’s Sailor of the Year fund.
Before heading to their home bases, sailors filled out evaluations on the day, and many expressed that it was good to get answers to their questions on how to sail better, rig their boats, and learn more about team racing. They also provided many topics for next year’s education day(s).
Many thanks to the presenters, Susie Colunio, who handled all the logistics of registration, breakfast, and lunch; the YWSYA Committee for handling the regifting FWSA sailors in a setting where everyone felt comfortable asking questions.
Thank you to Brian Acampa of the Bitter Ends for videotaping four sessions from the FWSA Education day. You can view the videos at the following locations;
FWSA.net head to the Educational Videos page
Florida Women's Sailing Association YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@FWSA1973
For additional helpful information the Education Committee has uploaded useful information for you that is broken down into categories. Linda Schwartz's document "How to install the “Modified Gust Adjust/Jenn’s Rig” system is on the FWSA Resources page of FWSA.net in the Rigging and Maintenance section.
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