Meet Wendy Northup the July 2024 Member of the Month!
Meet the NWSA Member of the Month, Wendy Northup. Wendy’s local sailing club is Women’s Sailing Association (WSA) of Santa Monica Bay in sunny Southern California. She joined the board of WSA in 2016 and continues to serve on their board. Wendy was Commodore in 2021 and 2023. She says, “I am grateful to able to give back to an organization that has given me so much encouragement and support.”
The first time Wendy was on a sailboat, she was a senior in high school. She sailed with friends on a classmate’s father’s boat on Lake Ontario. Wendy loved it! She wanted to sail more, but didn’t have access to sailing as she headed to college.
Wendy met her children’s father when he was living on the east end of Long Island and had access to a Hobie cat. It was thrilling, but Wendy was just a passenger. She did not get a chance to learn to sail. Years later when their children were school age, they bought a 38’ Sweden and started to sail as a family. They joined a yacht club and raced in Westport, CT.
Wendy wanted to know how to trim the sails, how to drive and dock, but her children’s father was not inclined to teach. They eventually divorced. He got the boat.
Wendy’s sailing fortune changed. Luckily her good friend bought a boat to race and Wendy was invited to join his crew. She showed up every week. At first Wendy was “rail meat”, learning vocabulary, and observing. She progressed and trained for the “pit” to handle the lines for spinnaker. As on many race boats, Wendy was often the only woman crew. With persistent crewing, over time she learn to sail the Evelyn 32. She raced on the boat for five seasons, learning to be a sailor.
In 2014 Wendy moved to Los Angeles for work. She had learned about the Women’s Sailing Association before she moved, so prior to arriving Wendy joined. A great decision. She had never been in a room with so many female sailors. There were hundreds!
Wendy became friends and was mentored by Jeannea, a 72-year-old skipper. Wendy fondly recalled watching Jeannea fix her engine after smoke began coming out the back of the boat when they motored out of an anchorage. She was so inspired that she started to think about owning a boat herself. She bought a Hunter Legend 355 and named it Sadelier (the first two letters of her four children’s first names in birth order). Wendy will always remember that feeling of empowerment when she first docked her own boat.
Wendy attended her first NWSA conference in 2023 in Newport, RI. She attended again this June in New Orleans.
Sailing has become a passion for Wendy. She says, “I never would have gotten here if it wasn’t for the women sailors and skippers who supported me. Now I have the opportunity to mentor younger women, including my daughters, to share the joys of sailing.” Her dream is to sail in the South Pacific. Wendy would love to spend a month island hopping there.