If you were not able to attend the September FWSA General Membership meeting, you missed a fabulous presentation by Allison Jolly. Not to worry though, her talk was recorded and is available for you here. My apologies for the very late publication of this blog post. I was beset with technical issues but am thrilled to finally bring it to you now. Please set aside 39 minutes to watch this; you will not be disappointed!

FWSA Competes in Sunfish Women’s North American Championship in Delaware! By Dee Gill, Salty Sister/Dinghy Dame FWSA members turned out in force for the Sunfish Women's North American Championship Aug. 19-20, 2023 in Lewes DE. Our 20 sailors from five member clubs made up nearly half the fleet for the event, which was a qualifier for the 2024 Sunfish World's event in Dallas. Amanda Callahan of Bristol Yacht Club in Rhode Island and head sailing coach at Roger Williams University took first place overall. Dinghy Dame Gail Heausler took second, Luffing Lassies MaryEllen Brown took sixth and Lisa Brown Ehrhart of Luffing Lassies finished eighth. Third place went to Susan Tillman Berg, who traveled from Seattle to continue her family's tradition of racing the event. The event trophy is named after her parents, Linda and Dick Tillman. Much of the Florida contingent arrived towing boats and a lot of leftover snacks from the road trip. Many of us stayed in homes in Lewes and Rehoboth Beach with hosts that helped us easily navigate the logistics of parking, unloading trailers and the beach launches. The hospitality in these homes was very much appreciated. Host club Lewes Yacht Club offered a practice race on Friday to help acclimate participants to the local conditions. The club sits near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, and the incoming and outgoing tides create very strong currents. Higher wind also can make launching over the waves challenging. On the first day of racing, winds were about 15 knots with gusts up to about 29 and a strong incoming current, creating roughly 3-5 foot rollers for much of the day. The temperature was a pretty perfect 70s most of the day. Getting off the beach was a little daunting, but volunteers held our boats in the waves to help us out. After a particularly long first race, we sailed three more of roughly 45 minutes each. Some of us learned the hard way to think harder about currents at mark rounding! Day 2 offered much milder conditions, with much easier launching and winds starting out at around 6-8 knots. We got in two races before the wind died and the heat rose. After some time cleaning up the boats and loading, we gathered under trees for lunch and awards. Of course, a huge part of the fun of these events is spending time with a great group of like-minded women. The club hosted dinner for us all Saturday, which was great for catching up with fellow sailors from all over. We gathered informally for other meals and sightseeing. Many of us spent our last evening at the Rehoboth boardwalk whacking rubber frogs onto lily pads (which no one managed) and riding the (easier) carousel. A huge thank you to Connie Miller for chairing and the volunteers that made this a great event for all of us.

FWSA Members Travel to SASS Regatta Eleven FWSA members (and one future member) from the Luffing Lassies and Windlasses travelled to St. Augustine over the August 5th weekend to support our newest member SASS (St. Augustine Sailing Sist Luffing Lassies: Jennifer Means, Ali Claypoole, Penny Durham, Coco Claypoole (future FWSA member), Connie Randolph, and Sandi Szmania. Windlasses: Tina Bas=en, Deb Schnedler, Chris Kelly, Joy Sheets (Not pictured: Suki Mueller, Rita Root) ers) and compete in their signature fundraising event, the Bikini Race. As a sidenote…bikinis were optional! SASS included a one-design fleet for the first time this year to encourage even more women at the helm. This growing annual sailing event and fundraiser benefits the Betty Griffin Center and St. Francis House & Port in the Storm. Representatives from both programs spoke at the award celebration about the services they provide to aid victims of domestic and sexual assault and homeless adults and youth. St. Augustine Mayor, Tracy Upchurch, was also there to present the sailing awards. Melissa Wissel, President of SASS, was an enthusiastic and gracious emcee for the weekend and reported that SASS collected over $18,000 in cash donations (with $$ still being collected) and $6500+ of in-kind products/services. There was genuine appreciation from all SASS members and the St. Augustine Yacht Club to every FWSA member who travelled to race in and support this event. The Youth Sailing Director, Marissa Burrier, welcomed us with open arms as we arrived and was ready with her campers to unload boats and bring them to the beach. The festivities kicked off Friday night when SASS reserved the en=re upper floor at Meehan’s Irish Pub & Seafood House for hors d’oeuvres and specialty drinks to welcome all the sailors and volunteers from both PHRF and one design fleets. The Race Committee for the one-design (Sunfish and 420s) outdid themselves. The courses were great with tricky shifting and gustiing winds at the windward mark. Storms crept in and the RC kept a close eye on the changing weather conditions and were able to get in 4 races in good wind before they called it for safety concerns. Many kudos to the RC for all their good decisions and attention to details. SASS is already anticipating and preparing for a larger one-design fleet for 2024 so be sure you don’t miss out on the fun next year. FWSA welcomes and thanks SASS for a fantastic weekend all around. We look forward to more events and camaraderie with SASS! --Chris Kelly and Joy Sheets

Recruitment update: Four representatives from FWSA, Recruiting Co-chairs, Beth Owens and Ann Carroll, FWSA President Lynne Randall, and Vice President, Joy Sheets made their way over to Daytona to network and promote women’s sailing to women sailors on the East Coast of Florida. Kathy Sinnett, chair of the Windward Women, the women sailing group of Halifax Sailing Association, hosted the informal networking presentation at Ormond Beach library on Wednesday, February 22. 25 women attended the event at the library. 14 from Women's sailing programs: 10 Windward Women of Halifax Sailing Assn, and 3 from St. Augustine Sailing Sisters. 8 women who are not yet in women's programs: 1 Smyrna Yacht Club, 3 from Orlando area (Sanford and Lake Nona), 1 New Smyrna Beach, 1 from marina in Daytona Beach, and 1 Daytona Beach. Sixteen went for dinner at Ormond Garage after the library event. Thursday morning, we met at the Halifax Sailing Association that included a tour of the club, introduction of their club officers, a look at their sailing fleet, and a spin on the Halifax River by boat to view their sailing areas. We will continue to offer our support to help grow women’s sailing in Florida! More photos may be found here.

Even with no wind for their Interclub on Friday, February 24, The Broad Reachers still held a very fun regatta for their pram sailors! A race course was set and flags were flown for 3 fun and educational races! Paddles were used instead of sails and beach balls were exchanged within the windward zone. It was a beautiful day on the water and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. The event ended with awards of gorgeous orchids and a scrumptious lunch. Thank you to the race committee led by Gloria Davis, Selga Sakss, and Barbara Goodman; the safety boat with Paul Goodman, Suzanne Boohar, and Carol Hansen; and all the other volunteers that worked together to hold this interclub. More photos may be viewed here.

Kicking off the interclub event, the Mamas were joined at the Salt Shack by a few of the registered sailors. All enjoyed watching the sun set over Tampa Bay while enjoying dinner and drinks right on the sea wall. Briefly joined by dolphins, all agreed that it was a wonderful evening and left hoping for a bit of breeze in the morning. Having no morning wind on Hillsborough Bay earlier this week, there were many activities planned should there be no sailing. As it turned out, the pirates were fortunate to have just enough breeze to pull off two races yesterday. Thank you to the PRO PJ Summerville, Tiffany DeMarcay, and Julie Sargent for serving as Race Committee. Also thanks to Charlie Cushing, a Dinghy Dude, for piloting the spectator boat. And to all the Dames who sailed across the bay in very light winds to get to the race course. The Dames also brought three Capris to watch the racing and to join in the lunch and award festivities. After changing in to pirate costumes, everyone enjoyed lunch together under the shade of the pavillion. Many thanks to Carroll McClain, MM, and Chansi Harrow, DD, for all the work that went into getting over 30 lunches distributed. Milk Punch, a Gasparilla Pirate traditional beverage, was served and awards announced. The winners were: Prams: 1st Sherry Swan, DD; 2nd Kathryn Ferry, LL; and 3rd Dee Gill, BR. Sunfish: 1st Lisa Brown-Ehrhart, LL; 2nd Lynne Randall, DD; and 3rd Marti Cochran, SS. Costume Contest winner: Margaret Dufeny, DD. click the arrow on the right side of the photo below to scroll through all the winners' pictures Click here for a selection of more event photos.

In Florida's perfect winter weather, women from Dunedin to Venice gathered in Pass-A-Grille to renew old friendships and form new ones knowing that your future friend shares your love of sailing. Before the meeting began and during a couple of "recesses," Carroll McClain, MM, and JoAnn Simmons, BR, organized, priced,and sold members' donated items to attendees to raise funds for the Young Woman Sailor of the Year award. Thank you to all who donated and who purchased items. The total raised was $715! And 50/50 raffle tickets were sold by Marti Cochran, BR, DD & SS, and Suzanne Boohar, BR, RR, SS, & WL, throughout the morning raising a total of $286, The winning ticket was held by Lee Nelson, DD, who graciously donated her winnings back to help fund the award. I will be adding photos here in the next few days as I receive them from attendees. Here are a few that I have so far: The morning's featured speaker was exceptionally interesting though he couldn't discuss any particular details on sailing. Instead, he spoke on ways to maintain our bodies through yoga, pilates, or chiropractic massage so that we can continue to sail at our best. Dr. Scott Rubin has a clinic at 1700 Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Street N, St. Petersburg 33704. If you were unable to attend the meeting, you'll definitely want to talk with a fellow sailor who did to get more information. Here is a link for an excerpt of his presentation Dr. Scott Rubin's presentation at FWSA Winter Meeting.

The Luffing Lassies in Sarasota hosted the 2022 Crewed Boat Championship on November 7th. Pam Miller, a Bitter Ends member and FWSA Publicity/Historian Committee Chair, has written a fantastic article on the day which you can read here. Congratulations to 1st place finishers in the Spin division: Luffing Lassies Lorri Kaigen and Kimberly Duplissy. And kudos also go to the 1st place finishers in the Non-Spin division: Luffing Lassies Jennifer Means and Barbara Sylvester. The final score sheet can be found here. Huge shout out to Jennifer Joy Walker Photography! Jennifer, a Luffing Lassie, was on the water and expertly captured all the exciting sailing of the day! Below are just a few photos but you must click here to view them all to get a real feel of the blustery conditions! Thank you, Jennifer, for your time and talent! And, thanks also to Joy Sheets, FWSA's Vice President, for taking all the great photos on land. See all of Joy's photos here.

Lassies Ursula Olson and Lorri Kaighin joined ABC7 Suncoast View on Friday for a live interview where they eloquently described the history of the Lassies and the 50th celebration. Watch our Lassie celebrities here. And, stay tuned for photos from the event which took place Thursday, November 10th, 2022.

The Broad Reachers hosted this year's Commodore's Lucas Cup on October 14. The weather was perfect and the winds light which made for a very enjoyable day of Pram sailing on the water with our FWSA sailing sisters! As a bonus, Alice Lucas was on site to present the trophies to each of the winners. Congratulations to all participants and especially to our winners: 1st: Robin Babka, Windlasses 2nd: Cathy McNally, Bow Chasers 3rd: Bijie Ding, Salty Sisters If you'd like to view all the photos, and a few videos, from this event, click here. .

If you missed the presentation and slide show at the 9.20.2022 FWSA meeting, we've got you covered! You will really enjoy this terrific presentation by two of FWSA's best! Gail Hausler and Emily Wagner entertained us with their presentation on their experiences at the 2022 Sunfish Worlds at Lake Garda in Torbole, Italy. This video has a few excerpts from the much longer presentation. If you'd like to watch the entire video, you can find it at the link below:

Naomi from Heritage Village in Largo spoke to FWSA members on Clark Mills and his design of what became known as the Clearwater Pram. You can watch the 23 minute presentation here.