September 22, 2014

Island Yacht Club had 78 women students for the Women's Sailing Seminar. We started planning for the event in the late winter. We spent a great part of the spring and summer advertising through social media and word of mouth for the event. Many of IYC's members donate a lot of hours to make this event successful. It's amazing that it's been going on for 22 years.

Orientation on Saturday morning. ©2014 www.norcalsailing.com

And we see so many students and instructors come back year after year!
This year was the first time we offered only tracks – such as beginner, crew, sailor, racer, boat owner, and diva. Interestingly many of the women were fairly new to sailing, and we really worked on skills, language and getting familiar with sailing. Teaching took place in the classroom, dockside, and on the water. There was plenty of food and drink. The raffles were stupendous and everyone had an opportunity to go home with something.

Knots class. ©2014 Brian Hill/www.iyc.org

In a few weeks we will send out a crew list to the students. This way they can stay in touch, find others to sail with, crew opportunities, etc.

A highlight for me is seeing all the flushed, excited, a bit exhausted, student's faces come in from their time on the water, layers of clothing on their bodies, PFDs and gear bags in their hands. They've learned a lot during the week-end, and you can see it in the way they hold themselves. A community of sailors is quickly formed during the weekend. As Sunday activities draw to a close, groups remain close together sharing stories about their time together, enjoying new friendships.

– Melissa Grudin

To promote the event we sent out press releases to several print media resources, and had a whole team of volunteers putting up posters and leaving cards at every place women might go throughout Northern California. Of the 78 women who attended, one was from New Jersey, one from Missouri and one from Washington.

As the chair of the program, I see all the trials and tribulations throughout the planning process – that horrible Saturday morning when they crashed the club’s website while trying to load the seminar information and the mad scramble to find someone with computer skills who could help get it back up; the artistic conflicts that arose in developing some of the promotional materials; the 2:00 a.m. working sessions to meet deadlines when alarm clocks were to go off at 6:00 to go to real jobs; the juggling when students, boats, and instructors dropped out at the last minute. What most impresses me is the flexibility and ingenuity of our instructors, who were often faced with the most challenging scenarios. I feel completely indebted to every one of these ladies who volunteered their time, met the challenges, and got enough out of the weekend personally to make them leave smiling and asking to be called again next year.

– Nancy Hird

For more information, see www.iyc.org/wp/wss.