New alliance to grow women’s sailing

US Sailing and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) have launched a new collaboration to promote participation, education, and engagement opportunities for female sailors. The NWSA is a membership program of the Women’s Sailing Foundation (WSF), a national nonprofit organization that aims to enhance the lives of women and girls through education and access to the sport of sailing.

“The common ideal held by NWSA and US Sailing will re-double our efforts toward equitable inclusion in all aspects of sailing,” said Debbie Huntsman, President of the NWSA. “We look forward to working together on our shared goals.”

NWSA and US Sailing will together identify and act upon opportunities to promote their respective work in both the sailing and educational communities.

NWSA will assist US Sailing in the organization of Instructor Certification courses for female members interested in becoming a US Sailing certified instructor. US Sailing will be assisting NWSA in an expansion of their AdventureSail® program through a National AdventureSail® Day with event participation by many of US Sailing member organizations.

“Our goal of being inclusive to more girls and women in all aspects of the sport through education and participation speaks to the mission of both organizations,” said Betsy Alison, Adult Director at US Sailing. “We look forward to working together with NSWA to achieve these common goals and see the fruit of our labor during the 2021 sailing season.”

As part of the NWSA’s commitment to sailing education, the organization will be supporting and participating at US Sailing educational and networking events as a sponsor for the National Sailing Programs Symposium (NSPS), the premiere sailing education event in the U.S. and the Sailing Leadership Forum, a signature US Sailing event that welcomes leaders from the sailing industry to discuss important topics in the sport.

“From the time we started NWSA in 1990, it has always been our desire to work closely with US Sailing to broaden access and enhance the lives of women and girls through sailing,” said Doris Colgate, Founder of NWSA. “This ground-breaking collaboration is an exciting next step in fulfilling those initial goals.”

US Sailing and NWSA have been working together in 2020 on women’s sailing outreach and education initiatives. On October 14, 2020, US Sailing hosted a Starboard Portal live session (see below) featuring women in sailing in collaboration with NWSA, featuring President, Debbie Huntsman; Board member, Charlotte Kaufman, and other leaders in women’s sailing.

 
Source: US Sailing