2024 National Women's Sailing Conference
presented by allstate sugar bowl
INSTRUCTORS
We are so grateful for the expertise our instructors will be offering at our Women’s Sailing Conference.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Gail Hine
The model designer of the Women's Sailing Convention will be honored at the June 8th New Orleans Conference
pRESENTERS & COACHES
Capt. Beth Berry
Captain Beth Berry has 35 years of sailing experience, over 20 offshore, and has skippered over a dozen major offshore races in the last 14 years. She has sailed from Canada, East Coast US, Caribbean and Central America. As skipper of KYRIE, Tartan 4100, has participated in offshore sailing programs since 2020.
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Signature events include: Annapolis Newport, Block Island Race Week, Annapolis Bermuda Ocean Race, Marblehead Halifax Ocean Race, US Naval Academy Basic Sail Training Program Instructor, 2022 & 2024 Managing Partner Morris Marine LLC, Key West Charter Base operations 2013-2020, Owner Solstice Sailing Adventures 2000-2020 racing, cruising and chartering her Tartan 37 Solstice throughout the east coast. She has achieved two podium finishes in Annapolis Newport races. Womanship — Instructor 2009-2013 J/30 Racing — 2008 to present, part owner and regular crew S/V “Bump…” participating in one design and PHRF Chesapeake Bay racing. Holds USCG 100 Ton Masters license with sailing endorsement since 2005, US Sailing Basic Keelboat instructor, valid to November 2024 and 2022 World Sailing Offshore Safety at Sea Course.
WORKSHOPS:
STAYING CONNECTED: Intro to Electronic and Communication Equipment
CAPT. DEBBIE HUNTSMAN
Captain Debbie Huntsman, a product of her father’s intensive MacGyver training, began as a Boating Safety Education Instructor in 1997. Along with continually developing her seamanship, safety while having fun has been a primary focus in her sailing. A licensed Coast Guard Captain, Debbie has served the sailing
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community for over 30 years in a variety of capacities with State, Federal and non-profit agencies. She has sailed most of the west coast of the US and Mexico and loves the splendor of night and offshore sailing. She raced from Pensacola to Havana on a very fast boat loving every minute of the adventure. With her husband, Debbie helped train law enforcement officers, patrolled San Diego harbor after 9-11 and has found her way to moderating Safety at Sea training, where she can apply her wide array of sailing and training experiences with an emphasis of benefiting women.
WORKSHOPS:
OVERBOARD CREW RECOVERY: How to Prevent, Prepare & Practice For This Emergency
AVOIDING MISHAPS & MAYHEM
DENISE AVELLINA
Since being invited to sail on an extended cruise with a family at age 20, sailing became an obsession for Denise. She was a live-aboard for three years chasing cruising and racing. While pursuing a career as a sailmaker, she continued sailboat racing.
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She worked with North Sails for 30 years as the Production Manager, a few years at Quantum Sails and now has her own marine canvas shop.
WORKSHOPS:
A STITCH IN TIME: Learn to Sew Canvas & Repair Sails
DONNA SUE MARKS
If there is an opportunity to have something built in her sailing community, Donna Sue Marks is all in! If there is a grassroots youth class program that can be supported with a team of passionate, supportive volunteers she wants to be involved!
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She supports the growth of sailors from recreational sailors to the competitive level. Her happy place is on the water with like-minded people having a good time, making friendships and memories lasting decades. She started windsurfing in Guam and progressed to crew in other regattas once she moved to Florida, with a short stint with her girlfriends sailing club J70’s. Her son started sailing at the Fort Walton Beach YC, progressed through high school and college sailing in St. Petersburg. Florida. During his sailing career is when she become a regatta mom and her love for being on the water was contagious. She is a USSA Regional Race Officer, Club Judge and the current Area D Race Officer. In this role she supports Area D Race Officers in mentorship, training and execution of the process to be Race Officers both new, existing and renewal, with continuing education and meeting criterion.
WORKSHOPS:
THE PROTEST ROOM: How To Negotiate With Race Committee
ELISE READ
Elise Read has enjoyed sailing Sunfish, Weta and Corsair trimarans, and other large multihull racing over the last 15 years. While enjoying cruising, she races one-design with her J/80 in the local Fleet 16 on Lake Pontchartrain.
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WORKSHOPS:
CREW POSITIONS: ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER (Intermediate)
Ellie McCulloch
Ellie McCulloch has crewed and raced on Lake Pontchartrain since 1999. In 2009 she bought Muse, a Cape Dory 27, and started skippering in club races. Muse was the go-to boat during the next 10 years for dozens of newcomers who sailed their first race with her.
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In 2019 Ellie moved on to one-design racing on J80 Good Juju. She has won the local women’s regatta on each boat, and the Juby Wynn One Design Regatta on Good Juju. Last year, she got knee replacements and then sailed in a J80 workshop at the Banderas Bay Regatta in Puerto Vallarta. She also coached women sailors at the NWSA WOWZER race weekend in Lake Pleasant, Arizona. Her mantra is, “If I can do it, you can do it.” Ellie is a member of New Orleans Yacht Club, Corinthian Sailing Association, Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association (LPWSA), and New Orleans Power Squadron where she holds the rank of Navigator. While commodore of LPWSA, she managed the restoration of a donated Flying Scot and was awarded a commendation by the US Coast Guard for the work. She holds US Sailing Bareboat certification and takes crews of sailors and non-sailors on charters in exotic locations like the British Virgin Islands, Croatia, and Italy.
WORKSHOPS:
SAIL TRIM: ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER (Intermediate)
CAPT. ERICA TREJO
Erica Trejo of Chicago, is a USCG licensed Captain. She has been in the marine industry since 2008. She is the Adult Sailing Program Director at Jackson Park Yacht Club and the owner of Great Lakes Sailing, a sailing school in Chicago.
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Erica teaches sailing not only as a skill, but also as a great way to connect with nature and the elements. Whether she teaches beginners or more advanced sailors, she sees her role is crucial to imparting knowledge, ensuring safety, and to foster a love for the sport. Erica shares her love for the sea and a sense of responsibility toward the environment with a deep connection to the water and nature.
Erica regularly competes in one-design fleets, primarily on a J70. Over the 2023 season, Erica’s team traveled and competed in regattas, developing teamwork and race conditioning. Last November, the team’s successful campaign won them first place in Corinthian at the 2023 World Championship in Saint Petersburg, Florida. Erica joined the NWSA board October 2023.
WORKSHOPS:
CREW POSITIONS: SYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER (Intermediate)
GUENEVERE RAE
Guenevere Rae has been a power boater since she was seven years old. Her sailing ventures started in Tampa, Florida, when she lived-aboard a monohull and completed the American Sailing Association training courses through bareboat charter.
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After a 10 year break from sailing, she picked it back up in New Orleans in 2015. For the past five years, she has regularly raced in local regattas (PHRF and one-design for J80 and J22). She acquired a Cal 29 in 2020 and learned how to upgrade and perform regular boat maintenance operations. She is a member of New Orleans Yacht Club and the Corinthian Sailing Association of Lake Pontchartrain.
WORKSHOPS:
HOSES, PUMPS, WIRES AND VALVES: Getting to Know Your Boat Systems
HALEY LHAMON
Haley started racing at age six on a lake in Texas. After moving to California, she competed nationally, winning the triple-handed Sears Cup in 1988. Her first teaching experience was running the Santa Cruz Yacht Club summer camps before racing and teaching sailing for Stanford.
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Seeking adventure, Haley and her college sailing sweetheart Rusty moved to Michigan where they coached a high school sailing team, mentored a keelboat team, and won the 2002 Chicago-Mac Race (div. II). Meanwhile, Haley earned her teaching certificate and specialized in multi-sensory language instruction. After moving to Seattle via Germany and having their second son, she won Thistle Women’s Nationals which inspired her to lead women’s dinghy clinics. She is currently head coach of the Bainbridge Island High School Sailing Team and coordinates the Parks & Recreation sailing program in addition to supporting a women’s sailing group and youth race team. Haley has been presenting at US Sailing Safety at Sea seminars and draws upon both cruising experiences and the 2018 Race to Alaska she won with Team Sail Like a Girl. Certifications: US Sailing Level 3, Advanced First Aid, SafeSport, US Safe Powerboating Instructor, WA Boater Ed Card, & International Offshore SAS.
WORKSHOPS:
RACING: Strategies and Tactics
CAPT. JODI WEINBECKER
In 2022 Captain Jodi Weinbecker started her own consulting business: Sail Training Solutions, where she operates as a Program Consultant, Private Coach, Educator, Trainer, and Sailing Instructor. She spent the last 18 years managing Sailing programs at prestigious institutions as the Waterfront Director for the Florida Yacht Club (FYC) Jacksonville, Florida, and The Southern Yacht Club.
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She has coordinated many regional, national and North American championship regattas. Is an active youth and adult race coach and sailing instructor and educator. She is a 2022 FYC Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and 2023 US Sailing Excellence in Instruction Award recipient. Certifications include US Sailing Level 1 Instructor Trainer, US Powerboating Instructor, US Powerboating Safe Powerboat Handling Instructor Trainer (pending), US Sailing Basic Keelboat Instructor, ASA 101,103, USCG Captains License – Sailing Endorsement 2024. She currently owns, cruises and races on her Hunter 43, My Mojo, and races her J24 with her husband Bill. They have owned, cruised, and raced on boats together for the last 30 years.
WORKSHOPS:
CERTIFIED INSTRUCTOR SKILLS (Advanced)
SAILING IS FOR EVERYONE: Casting a Wider Net of Inclusion
KRIS SELF
Kris has been sailing since the early 1980s, when she moved to Florida. She mostly sails in Gulf waters near St. Pete Beach but has made many trips to Captiva Island, the Dry Tortugas and the Tobago Cays in the Grenadines. Kris bought her first boat, a 1981 Navigator named Capella, about nine years ago.
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Kris is now the owner of a 41’ Gulfstar and is looking forward to exploring the Caribbean. Kris, a former Apple systems engineer, is now the founder and owner of Island Computer Consulting in St. Pete Beach, Florida, a “technology concierge,” that specializes in high-end home automation, entertainment and video surveillance systems. She also works with small businesses, and setting up communication and navigation systems for cars and boats and then training owners how to operate them effectively.
WORKSHOPS:
CRUISING TIPS & TRICKS
Aga Kasprzak
After owning her own sailboat and seeing how difficult it was to find an honest mechanic, she took a 12-month intensive technical marine course in Tampa, Fl where she acquired her Yamaha and Mercury outboard certifications, and basic boat electrical knowledge.
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She is in the process of getting the electrical certification from ABYC. She started Sea Power Repair Zen (SPRZen) in 2021 to be able to share her knowledge, teach the curious and become the honest mechanic around town. Her mission statement: Empowering women, empowering boats!
WORKSHOPS:
HAPPY MOTOR, HAPPY SAILOR: A Guide to Outboard Motor Maintenance
Linda Thompson
Captain Linda Thompson grew up along the Gulf Coast of Florida and has over 45 years of sailing experience. She is a US Coast Guard licensed captain and a certified American Sailing Association (ASA) instructor. Linda has sailed up and down the coast of Florida, to and from a number of Caribbean Islands, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, Norway, and the Mediterranean but loves her own home waters of Pensacola Bay and the surrounding area.
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WORKSHOPS:
SAIL TRIM: Asymmetrical Spinnaker (Advanced)
CAPT. LISA GOODWIN
Captain Lisa Goodwin is a third generation sailor who lives on Cape Cod, MA, and holds a USCG 100-ton Master / 200-ton Ocean Mate license. Since 2009, she has logged over 70,000 nm. This includes Atlantic, Pacific, over 18 New England – Caribbean deliveries, as well as sailing in the Arctic, North Sea, Sea of Cortez, and the Mediterranean.
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She was inducted into the exclusive Cape Horners’ Society for her 2013 qualifying voyage from Auckland, NZ to Port Stanley, Falkland Islands. A member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary, she teaches boating safety, is a damage control instructor for Sector Southeast New England, and National Branch Chief of Academics for the CG Aux. University Prog. (AUP) in charge of the Program of Study. Not primarily a racer, Lisa has nonetheless participated in the 2010 Velas Sud America, the 2009 Charleston-Boston and 2017 Boston-Nova Scotia Atlantic Challenges, the 2019 Marblehead to Halifax Race, and the 2019 Marion Bermuda Race, and multiple local offshore races. Lisa is the current Commodore of the Blue Water Sailing Club. She also teaches US Sailing Safety at Sea Courses. In the summer, Lisa and her two cats moved aboard her 30ft Cape Dory cutter to cruise New England.
WORKSHOPS:
BUILDING CREW COMPETENCY
SAILING IN HEAVY WEATHER: Staying in Control to Sail Safe
Louise Bienvenu
Louise Bienvenu lives in New Orleans, and is lucky enough to sail year-round on Lake Pontchartrain. As a latecomer to sailboat racing, crewing in her first regatta at age 28, she caught the bug, and bought a J22 LOLA. Louise regularly races J22s, J80s, Vipers, and in PHRF. She’s a member of New Orleans Yacht Club, Corinthian Sailing Association and Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association, which she founded in 2003 and served as the first commodore.
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Louise is also the skipper of TEAM NEW ORLEANS, a women’s match racing team that has sailed in regional/ national/ international events. Louise is also a cruiser. In 2021 she crewed with Guenevere Rae on her Cal29, double-handed, to the Florida Keys from New Orleans. In March 2020, Bienvenu created the Single/Double Handed Sailing Association, racing Sundays with staggered starts during the first year of the Pandemic (No “club racing” was allowed during shutdown. The series was nicknamed Lulu’s Outlaw Sailing Club.) In recognition of leadership, the Corinthian Sailing Association honored her as 2020 Sportswoman of the Year. Louise coached at the WOWAZER 2023 at Lake Pleasant, Arizona.
WORKSHOPS:
Marcia Baker
Captain Marcia Baker is an experienced sailor on lakes and ocean cruising on a range of 10 to 50 ft sailboats. As an adult, a friend asked her to sail on a small 10ft. Snark on Lake Springfield, Ill, and was hooked from then on! Marcia completed her American Sailing Association certifications (ASA 101, 103, 104) in Texas and obtained her ASA Basic Keelboat 201 Instructor certification in 2009 from Tradewinds Sailing School in California.
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After owning the Snark, Laser and Precision small sailboats, she moved “up” to her current sailboat, a Catalina 22 (tiller) keelboat 19 years ago. She enjoys teaching private lessons and cruising on Lake Whitney, Texas. Sharing her passion for sailing with both youth and adults, especially women. She also enjoys racing with a J30 team, as skipper and crew, on Lake Grapevine, Texas. Since 2016, Marcia has held a USCG 25-ton Master Captain’s license, with the auxiliary sail endorsement. Marcia is the Program Director for the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation, working remotely from her Dallas home. She holds a M.S. in Health Education from Southern Illinois University and B.S. in Music Education from the University of Missouri.
WORKSHOPS:
SAIL TRIM: ASYMMETRICAL SPINNAKER (Intermediate)
Capt. Marie Rogers
Marie Rogers was the second woman to be the commodore of the historic Los Angeles Yacht Club
(LAYC); there she established a sailing school and LAYC Community Sailing. Marie races avidly. She
was able to race in the 50th Transpacific race where she didn’t see the diversity she was hoping for,
prompting her to recruit a diverse offshore team for future races.
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That effort became the nonprofit, Offshore Racing Outreach, which competed in the 2023 Transpac as Team Good Trouble. Marie also races close to home on her J/29 Rush Street, and does coastal racing on Marie, a Nelson Marek 55, that she shares with Bill, her husband. Rogers loves doing deliveries, cruising, and teaching sailing. She is the 2021 BoatUS/National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award recipient and the Southern California Yacht Association (SCYA) Peggy Slater honoree who, “best demonstrates outstanding contributions to the enhancement of women’s participation in the sport of sailing.” She serves on the board of US Sailing and the National Women’s Sailing Association. Marie is also a Director at SCYA where she chairs the Inclusive Boating Committee
WORKSHOPS:
SAILING IS FOR EVERYONE: Casting a Wider Net of Inclusion
Menette Burns
After spending years dreaming over sailing magazines in college, but never actually being on a sailboat, Menette Burns met the perfect mate—he had a sailboat! Fast forward 30 years, and that love of sailing, and of that man, has morphed into a business and business partnership. She bought her first sailboat in 1992, a Hunter 25 with an OB motor.
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Many boats later, she owns and teaches on two, a 1971 C&C 35 Redwing, and a 2009 Seawind 1160 Catamaran, through her American Sailing Association affiliated school, Louisiana Sailing School, LLC., where she has been an instructor since 2021. Menette teaches 101, 103, 104, & 114, holds a US Sailing International Safety at Sea Certification, a PADI Emergency First Responder certification, and was trained at the Annapolis School of Seamanship in their Marine Diesel Basics and Level II training. She also works as a boat broker for Whelton Marine, LLC, allowing her constant learning about boats, and the opportunities to teach new boat owners. Menette has crossed the Atlantic from Gibraltar to Granada, and traversed the Panama Canal from Colombia to Galapagos, sailed Florida to NY, to and from the Bahamas, and so much more! The Rolex Middle Sea race around Sicily is next in October 2024.
WORKSHOPS:
GET SAILING, KEEP SAILING: Tips for Newbies on Becoming Great Crew
Monica Morgan
Monica Morgan works with her husband at their boat shop in Florida. They work on fiberglass sailboats, all primarily one-design. She does fiberglass work, gelcoat, epoxy and polyester laminating, paints boats, fairing foils and optimizing them.
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She also races sailboats for fun and at a professional level, J24s, Lightnings, Etchells, VX1, Melges 15s. She can also dive and clean boat bottoms at regattas and has a 10-year old son who’s excited about sailing himself.
WORKSHOPS:
SECRETS BEHIND THE SHINE: How to Care for & Maintain Fiberglass
CRACKS, CHIPS & CHUNKS Techniques in Fiberglass Repair
CAPT. NAOMI EMMERSON
Naomi has been sailing since she was nine years old when she discovered her talent and passion for reading navigation charts. Her Dad taught all three sisters to sail on the family sailboat, a Mistral 16, which they sailed on lakes near Montreal. Fast forward to sailing in the desert on Lake Mead.
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Before moving to Las Vegas, Naomi and her husband sailed many summers in the Gulf Islands with her dad on a Hughes 31. Naomi’s current home sailing ground is Lake Mead, NV. She races with the Nevada Yacht Club on a Catalina 27 and a Catalina 38. She has chartered in Antigua & Barbuda and the BVI and has completed a passage from Virginia to Bermuda on an Island Packet 40. Naomi is passionate about teaching new sailors, especially women, and is the founder of boatluv.com and creator of the youtube channel The Desert Sailor from boatluv where she posts instructional videos and blogs about boat maintenance and sailing in the desert.
Certifications: OUPV 6-pack license, ASA basic keelboat Instructor. United States Power Squadron instructor, NauticEd Captain’s Level V. ASA105 Coastal Navigation. She is the ASEO of the Las Vegas Sail & Power Squadron and serves on the board as Secretary for the National Women’s Sailing Association.
WORKSHOPS:
DOCKING Do’s & Don’ts (Int)
GOING UP THE MAST IN A BOSUN CHAIR (All Levels)
Pat Dieselman
Pat Dieselman has been an instructor for the NWSA conference for over 20 years. She has taught crew overboard, docking, dinghy handling, navigation and chart plotting. She was the recipient of the 2019 BOATUS/NWSA Leadership In Women’s Sailing Award. She also is a certified race officer currently at the Boston Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA.
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USING A NAUTICAL CHART
PATTI JANE GOLDEN
Patti Jane is an avid sailor and lifelong boating enthusiast. She is also a hopeless romantic when it comes to sailing and sailors. In fact, almost 45 years ago she met her husband sailing from Destin, Florida, to Key West. They raised two sons and a daughter, all of whom are excellent sailors in their own right.
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As a serial sailboat owner, racer, cruiser, and unpaid crew member on friends’ boats, she accumulated a wealth of knowledge to convey to women who wish to sail. Jane and her husband own a Hinckley B40, Gypsy Lady, and are members of the Biloxi Yacht Club and the Ocean Cruising Club. She has logged over 10,000 miles of sailing. In 2021 she crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a multi-hull, and in 2022, Gypsy Lady raced in the Regatta al Sol from Pensacola to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Jane has sailed other oceans and seas, including the Pacific, Caribbean, Adriatic, and Ionian, plus the Gulf of Mexico from one end to the other, all while maintaining her relationships on shore. Seaworthy Publications recently published “A Woman’s Guide to the World of Sailing”, Jane’s often humorous and helpful book about her sailing experiences.
WORKSHOPS:
EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE: Stowage Secrets for Cruisers
CRUISING THE GULF COAST: Tips From An Insider
Capt. Sue La Voie
Sue La Voie, has presented at the NWSA conference many times. Her sailing has included one-design racing and extensive cruising. She restarted her local junior sailing program which developed into adult sailing and currently teaches seamanship classes at WoodenBoat School. She describes herself as a true wharf rat, who enjoys messing about in boats. She loves to share her passion for sailing with others and those sailors-to-be.
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WORKSHOPS:
USING A NAUTICAL CHART
CSNO INSTRUCTORS
Meet our volunteers from Community Sailing New Orleans. They will be leading the beginners on the “Take The Helm On-The-Water Sessions
Clementine Furber
Heather West
Kismet Collins
WORKSHOPS
A full day of workshops on land and on-the-water from beginner to advanced levels. Registration includes breakfast & lunch, with a post conference “Sharing Sailing Social”.
INSTRUCTORS
All workshops are lead by women sailors and experts in their field. Captains and certified instructors as well as coaches and circumnavigators
VENUE
Lake Pontchartrain is our sailing arena. Southern Yacht Club is our host with support from Community Sailing New Orleans.
meet the conference committee
Jodi Weinbecker: Programming
Claire Wyngaard: Programming, Sponsorships, PR
Naomi Emmerson: Webmaster, PR, Marketing
Debbie Huntsman: LIWSA coordinator, Graphic Design
Linda Cook: Accounting, Budgeting, Registration
Barbara Morris: Web Support, Merchandise, Marketing, Graphic Design
Kris Self
Erica Trejo
Thank You To Our 2024 Conference Sponsors
Our Title Sponsor
Admiral Sponsors
Captain Sponsors
Skipper Sponsors
Crew Sponsors
