Congratulations to the 2025 BoatUS/NWSA Leadership in Women's Sailing Award recipient Kathy Sinnett

NWSA and BoatU.S. presented the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award on June 7, 2025 at the National Women's Sailing Association Conference at the University of South Florida St Petersburg.

This year’s recipient, Kathy Sinnett, of Daytona Beach, Florida, has demonstrated exceptional skill, leadership, and dedication to promoting opportunities for women to embrace the joy and challenge of the sport of sailing. Her leadership has inspired countless sailors through her passion and perseverance.

At the 2025 Annual National Women’s Sailing Conference Presented by American Sailing at the University of South Florida St Petersburg, the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) honored Kathy Sinnett with an annual award recognizing her record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women through sailing.

Sinnett grew up on the water, first racing Snipes with her father, then teaching and racing at the University of Wisconsin. Her career decision to move to Alaska did not tamp down her desire to sail. “Who cares if the water is frozen—I’m from Wisconsin,” Kathy recalled as she told of her adventures sailing her DN iceboat up the Kuskokwim River. After accepting a position as a public health nurse in Ketchikan, Alaska, she found a spot on an all-women’s keelboat on which she shared her knowledge while honing her leadership in Alaska’s wet, cold and challenging environment.

As a Coast Guard spouse, Kathy Sinnett moved often and kept sailing as an integrable part of her life. Wherever she went she brought her enthusiasm for skilled seamanship and sailing to the community. She was honored for her leadership and skill wherever she sailed. Right: She spearheaded the Ideal Women program at the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club. As a thank you from the Club an Ideal was named in her honor. 

Throughout the years moving coast to coast as a US Coast Guard spouse, Sinnett created opportunities of connection for other women through sailing and racing on dinghies, keelboats and offshore boats. Sinnett spearheaded the long-running Ideal Women program at the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club (SHYC) and the new group, the Windward Women at the Halifax Sailing Association in Daytona Beach, FL. Through a networking event she organized, she encouraged the Windward Women and the Sailing Sisters of St. Augustine to join and to strengthen the Florida Women’s Sailing Association.

In 2019 Sinnett was honored with the Tucker and Sandy Bragdon Trophy for substantial contributions to SHYC’s sailing programs and in 2020 with the George Shuck Award recognizing her leadership in the club. At the Halifax Sailing Association, she holds a position on the leadership team.

Left: Kathy Sinnett is at ease on a Sunfish or a tall ship. Right: In 2020 Sinnett (center) was honored with the George Shuck Award recognizing her leadership in the Stonington Harbor Yacht Club.

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Kathy is proud to say, “We grow competence and confidence on the water in women in all of the groups and we strengthen connections between us as and we focus not only on sailing, but environmental issues and giving back to our community.” Her commitment to creating long-lasting developmental sailing and racing programs for women wherever she lives exemplifies the spirit of the Leadership in Women's Sailing award. 

NWSA President, Debby Grimm remarks, “Kathy has a gentle but firm nature to lead with enthusiasm while learning. Her ‘can-do’ attitude makes others ask how they can become involved.”

BoatUS President, Heather Lougheed affirmed, “We are proud to partner with NWSA to get the word out to aspiring women sailors that this healthy lifetime sport can be rewarding and life-enriching. Once you get started, you have to share it!”

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2024 BoatUS/NWSA Leadership in Women's Sailing Award honoree Jerelyn Biehl!

NWSA and BoatU.S. presented the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award on June 8, 2024 at the National Sailing Conference at Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans LA

Left: Jerelyn sailing with her son. Jerelyn comes from a sailing family. Like her, both of her sons are high-level sailors, two time Olympian and a World Champion.

Congratulation to Jerelyn Biehl for being selected as the 2024 BoatUS/NWSA Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award honoree.

At the 2024 Annual National Women’s Sailing Conference Presented by Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans, the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatU.S.) and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) honored Biehl with an annual award recognizing her record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women through sailing.

The youngest of 3 children, Jerelyn was born into a sailing family. She learned sailing from her parents and as a teenager learning all things boating at her father’s marine store. She shared sailing with kids during summers in high school and college. After competing for the University of California, Los Angeles Sailing Team, she met her husband on the racecourse. They fostered a love of sailing in their sons, Graham (a two time Olympian) and Cameron (a World Champion) as well.

Biehl has supported women’s and girls’ sailing for over 40 years at the local, national and international levels. Knowing the influence of role models, she served as a Board member of the California International Sailing Association (CISA), which held an annual advanced racing clinic. She and CISA worked hard to ensure there were female coaches and instructors to encourage and teach high-level skills to girls.  

Biehl worked to create more recognition and support for girls’ racing in the 29er class, and this eventually led to a change in the World Sailing requirements for women’s world championships, which had been too restrictive. Around the same time, the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), now World Sailing, was looking for a women’s skiff to complement the men’s skiff in the Olympics. Biehl and a small team worked tirelessly to make this happen.

In 2019, as the second female commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club, Biehl made a concerted effort to promote women’s involvement that year. The majority of Club committees were chaired by women, and she introduced a Sail with the Commodore series that helped women who had never raced, or had little racing experience. They were given working roles on boats to build sailing skills. The program also trained and encouraged 130 women to take their boats to Catalina Island for the first women’s cruise at San Diego Yacht Club.

NWSA President Debby Grimm noted "Jerelyn Biehl has taken on roles that assisted in assuring quality education and fairness in racing, with the goal of attracting more women to the variety of competitive Olympic classes or getting recreational boaters to stretch their comfort zone."

Biehl has received a variety of awards, including a 2022 induction into the International Snipe Class Hall of Fame, the 2002 US Sailing One Design Leadership Award, the 2023 Peggy Slater Memorial Award of the Southern California Yachting Association, and two San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs awards. She was also involved with the 49erFX Class Association, served as CISA President and Board member, was on the US Sailing Olympic Sailing Committee, and was US Sailing Interim Vice President.

Biehl continues her positions as Vice Commodore of San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs and the SDYC Sailing Foundation Board, President, and CISA Board Member. She resides in San Diego, California. Upon hearing about this award, she said "I can’t express how thankful I am to have had all the volunteers and fellow women sailors with me over these years to make such progress.  We have finally 50/50 representation in sailing in the Olympics!  I’m very grateful for the people who surrounded and supported me including my parents and family, the members of San Diego Yacht Club, and many friends I’ve had the pleasure to race and work with."

Read the BoatUS Press Release HERE

Award recipients

Please visit our recipients archive page HERE or click on the individual names. Some have full pages of their own.

2026 BoatUS/NWSA Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award nominations will be accepted Oct. 15, 2025 – Feb. 1, 2026

Every year the NWSA seeks and accepts nominations for an individual who has a long record of supporting our mission, to enrich the lives of women of all ages through education and access to the sport of sailing. The Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award honors an individual (man or woman) with a record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women through sailing. Established in 1999, The annual award is co-sponsored by National Women’s Sailing Association and Boat Owners Association of The United States.

The 2026 Award will be announced at the Annual Women’s Sailing Conference in June, 2026.