A message from doris colgate

Doris Colgate, President of Offshore Sailing School, founded the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) in 1990. The mission of the association was to provide opportunities for women to learn and enhance their sailing skills, have fun and meet others at the same time. The mission has not changed. Our programs, such as our hands-on workshops, Diesel Engine Workshops, Safety at Sea, various workshops across the country, have provided the opportunity for thousands of women to do just that. NWSA a program of the Women’s Sailing Foundation.

Debby Grimm, President

Debby Grimm began sailing at Girl Scout camp. She now competes in New Orleans regattas often skippering their family boat, Hot Chocolate a J30. She also sails Cayenne a J22, which she co-owns with three women. Grimm has competed in the Sundance Cup, Rolex and US Women’s Championship match racing events, the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship, J30 North Americans, Race to the Coast, Great Lake Race, Lake Pontchartrain Racing Circuit and Knost (both one-design and PHRF). Grimm is a six-time Gulf Yachting Association Women’s PHRF Champion and multiple winner of the Coco Seemann Regatta (one design keelboat women’s regatta). She took honors multiple times for both the Race for the Roses and Women’s Trilogy on the Gulf Coast. Debby Grimm was female sailor of the year at New Orleans Yacht Club in 2001 and Southern Yacht Club’s outstanding woman sailor in 2012. Grimm was a founding member and served as Commodore of the Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association. Dr. Grimm is a research scientist at Tulane’s Coordinated Instrumentation Facility. She is married to Casey Grimm, and they have an 18-year-old daughter, Kaylor. Grimm joined the board in 2021 and took on the role as Vice President later in the same year. email Debby

Claire Wyngaard, Vice President

Claire Wyngaard enjoys both dinghy and keelboat sailing — she would have fun sailing anything that floats. She grew up on a lake, and has sailed the Atlantic from Delaware to Cape Cod. When she was 16, her father gave her a speedy Force 5, a 14-footer with 91 square feet of sail area she sailed by herself on the Great Sacandaga Lake in New York.

While studying music at SUNY Oswego, she served as college sailing club Commodore, taught sailing and competed on the college race team against other colleges. Post-college, she joined the Force 5 Class Association, sailed North American Championships in the 1990s with trailering to Lake Erie, New Jersey and Maryland, calling the Potomac River home at the Washington Sailing Marina.

She and her husband Dave now sail Justice, their 44’ cutter ketch designed by Bruce Roberts in the Mid-Atlantic and New England with plans to travel down the ICW to Bahamas. She was a bridge member of the Northern Virginia Sail and Power Squadron for 7 years. Claire enjoyed a career at BoatUS (Boat Owners Association of The United States), in the publications and public relations departments. Music, gardening, kayaking and biking compete for her attention. Claire joined the NWSA board in October 2022.  email Claire

Ame Flynn, Treasurer

Ame Flynn was born and raised in the Honey Island swampland of South Louisiana, a region located to the northeast of New Orleans, where boating is plentiful, but navigating sailboats is troublesome due to the natural, vast and luscious hardwood tree canopy. In 1998, Ame moved into the city of New Orleans proper and began seeking opportunities to feed her yearning for the tranquility of being out on the open water. In 2012, she connected with the sailing community of New Orleans and was instantly intrigued. Ame today still considers herself a novice sailor, and very much prefers cruising over racing. As she moves toward the retirement years, she is excited to advance her knowledge of sailing and cruising on smaller vessels (vs. cruise ships).

Ame has spent the majority of her professional career and life in banking and finance, and has always had an appetite for volunteering. She’s served as a volunteer for New Orleans’ public radio station, WWOZ 90.7FM, for over 20 years. Ame joined the Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association (LPWSA) in 2012, and has volunteered to assist with many of the associations events, including the annual Pink Ribbon Regatta.

Ame also enjoys music, festivals, museums, theatrical events, nature and international travel – hiking a 10 km section of the Great Wall of China back in 2011, and experiencing the volcanic wonders of Iceland in 2018 were particularly invigorating and noteworthy for Ame. email Ame

Erica Trejo, Secretary

Erica Trejo of Chicago is a USCG licensed captain. Erica 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. 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 impart knowledge, ensure 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 with the water and nature.

Erica regularly competes in one design fleets, primarily on a J/70. 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 WSF board October 2023.

Capt. Debbie Huntsman

Captain Debbie Huntsman is a certified instructor for the US Sailing, US Coast Guard Auxiliary, the National Safe Boating Council, States of Louisiana, Utah and Arizona and California.

Huntsman is a past flotilla commander and District 11S public affairs officer for the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. Her work in Division 10, 11SR earned the 1999 National Public Affairs Achievement Award. She served as commodore for the Lake Pleasant Sailing Club in Phoenix, AZ where she first became involved with AdventureSail® and adult sailing programs. Huntsman is a past commodore for the Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing Association where she introduced the AdventureSail® and L.A.S.T. (Learn About Sailing Things)® programs to the Gulf Coast. Debbie joined the Board in 2016. She was elected Vice President in 2017. She served as President from 2018 – 21. 

Capt. Linda Newland, AdventureSail®

Captain Linda Newland holds the fastest woman singlehanded record for San Francisco-Japan. She has sailed and raced extensively on the West Coast, sailed the Singlehanded Transpac to Hawaii twice and is a veteran of the LA-Honolulu Transpac and the Pacific Cup. In 1997, on her own boat, she skippered an all women’s crew in the LA – Honolulu Transpac taking a second place division finish. With a 100-ton Merchant Marine License, Newland teaches sailing and is a certified American Sailing Association instructor. She serves on the legislative committee for Recreational Boaters of Washington which represents recreational boaters interests in Washington state legislative and regulatory actions and is Commander and Assistant Squadron Education Officer of the Point Wilson Sail and Power Squadron in Port Townsend, Washington. She co-founded the ongoing Northern California Women’s Sailing Seminar in 1992. Newland is a retired school district administrator and maritime attorney. She joined the board in 2005 and has served as Vice President and President. email Linda

Capt. Marie Rogers

Captain Marie Rogers was the second woman in 118 years, the second black person, and the first black woman to be the commodore of the historic Los Angeles Yacht Club (LAYC). Marie races avidly. She was able to race in the 50th Transpacific race where she didn’t see another black person, let alone another black female, in the fleet. 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. Marie is the 2021 BoatUS/National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award recipient. She is the Vice President of US Sailing. Rogers joined the board in 2021.

Barbara Morris

Originally from Salt Lake City, and now living in Valencia, CA, Barbara Morris began sailing in Southern California waters in the early 90s and co-owned a Clipper Marine 24 with several friends as she was learning to sail. She prefers cruising and day sailing over racing, but has participated as crew on the 2005 Newport to Ensenada race and 2016 Baja Ha Ha. Also beginning in 2016 and for two more years, Morris took the helm on a boat in the annual Women on the Water, Woman at the Helm regatta in the Santa Monica Bay. She joined the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay in 2013 and has served as the Membership Director, Communications Director, Webmaster and Newsletter Editor and rose to become the Commodore in 2020. She has been on charters in the BVI, San Juan Islands in Washington, Penobscot Bay in Maine, Tahiti and most recently out of Newport, RI. Barbara enjoys First Mate status on her best friend’s C&C 40, which she has been sailing on since the mid 90s. Morris joined the board of directors in July, 2021.

Jodi Weinbecker

Jodi Weinbecker grew up in Wisconsin and spent much of her youth on the water including a bit of sailing. Since, she has sailed, raced and cruised over 20,000 miles with her family. She is described by her J/24 crew as, “a fierce competitor with a teacher’s demeanor.” Sailing for recreation turned to teaching sailing as she moved around the country during her husband’s US Coast Guard career. In 2004, she became the Waterfront Director at Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans. In 2013, the Weinbecker’s retired from the Coast Guard life. They spent a year traveling on land and by sea, spending eight months in the Bahamas on their Hunter43 MyMojo. A year later, Jodi became the Waterfront Director at the Florida Yacht Club where she built a dynamic multifaceted program.

In 2022, Jodi began working as an independent contractor for US Sailing as an Instructor Trainer and US Powerboating Instructor. She also offers private sailing coaching and consulting for sailing program management. Jodi Weinbecker joined the Board in October 2022

Kris Self

Kris Self 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 a couple of 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. She is now the owner of a 41’ Gulfstar. Over the years, Kris has made it a personal mission to get more women into sailing with a focus on working with women who want to become boat owners or women who sail with their husbands. Kris has taken her ladies-first mentality to the Internet, launching a Facebook group Women Who Sail Tampa Bay for aspiring female sailors in the Tampa Bay region. The site has over 1,300 members. Women Who Sail Tampa Bay hosts various activities throughout the year like How to use Aqua Maps, Outboard Engine Maintenance, and Cooking on a Boat. as well as many social gatherings. Kris Self is the founder and owner of Island Computer Consulting in St. Pete Beach. Board Member since December 2023.

Gail Hine — Emerita

Gail Hine’s first boat was a Newport 20, which she and her husband sailed for the next 14 years. She successfully raced her second boat, a Nightingale 24, for the next 30 years. In 1998, she served as Commodore of the Southern California Yachting Association. Hine has been a leading force in promoting women’s sailing for over 45 years. She spearheaded the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA) Women’s Sailing Committee for two decades. She conceived, created and produced the SCYA-sponsored Women’s Sailing Convention for 27 years (1990-2017) and then continued her legacy with Gail Hine presents the Sailing Convention for Women (2018-2023). She joined the WSF/NWSA board in 2001, retiring in 2021 after 20 years of service.

Joan Thayer — Emerita

Joan Thayer grew up in Marblehead, MA, where she began sailing in an after school program in the fourth grade. Joan enjoys racing in one-design boats and has owned a 210, Shields, Sonar and a Rhodes 19.

Over the years, Joan has been involved with sailing at the local, regional and national level. She is a member of the Corinthian Yacht Club and its race committee, MASS Bay Sailing, US Sailing and America’s Boating Club Beverly-Marblehead Sail & Power Squadron. Joan chaired the Centennial Marblehead Race Week in 1989 and received the Massachusetts Bay Distinguished Service to Sailing Award that year.

Thayer has been active in NWSA since 1995. She co-chaired the inaugural Boston AdventureSail® in 1996 and has been the force behind the Women’s Sailing Conference from 2001 through 2019. Thayer became a Board member in 2000 retiring in 2018. She has served as treasurer, vice president and as president.

Susan Epstein — Emerita

Susan Epstein has sailed and raced on the waters of Massachusetts Bay since she was six years old. At nine, she was racing her own Lawley. She graduated to 110’s and Ensigns, and for the last 17 years has raced 210s. In recent years, she has experienced the joys of cruising. She is the mother of four daughters and one son and grandmother to 11. She was the advisor and coach to the sailing team of Wheaton College. At US Sailing, Susan is past chair of the Council of Sailing Associations and the past chair of the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship, a position she held for five years. Susan is also a former member of the Board of Directors of US Sailing. She joined the Board of NWSA in 2001 and served from 2014 to 2016 as Vice President.