Recognizing achievement in women’s sailing
Published on June 12th, 2024
The Florida Women’s Sailing Association on the west coast of Florida has promoted women in sailing since 1973, and one of the significant ways they do this is through their annual Young Woman Sailor of the Year Award.
This award recognizes accomplishment within the sport of sailing and includes a monetary grant to support the sailing goals of the honoree. The 2024 award was given to Dorothy Mendelblatt of St Petersburg, FL.
Dorothy grew up in the St Petersburg sailing community, and came from a sailing family in which her father (David), uncle (Mark), and grandfather (Frank) are all accomplished competitive sailors. She first sailing an Optimist as a Pre-kindergartener.
As her sailing skills advanced, she moved from the Opti to a ILCA and then to the Nacra 15, pursuing events across the USA and the world. She represented the USA at the 2022 Youth Sailing World Championships and most recently was the Captain of the St Petersburg High School sailing team.
Dorothy has also volunteered at the St Petersburg Sailing Center until she was 16 when she became a US Certified Sailing Coach. She has helped kids in the SPYC sailing classes each summer.
According to her mother Amy, Dorothy is “driven and will always take the challenging route over the easy one”. Her parents support her sailing dreams but it has always been Dorothy’s choice to compete at National and International levels.
She is a graduating senior in the International Baccalaureate Program with a 4.5 GPA, will be attending Yale University in the fall, and looks forward to competing at the college sailing level.
About FWSA:
Founded in 1973 to promote and encourage the growth of women’s sailing groups along the West coast of Florida, the FWSA functions to:
• Encourage the sport of women’s interclub yacht racing.
• Foster and encourage social fellowships pertaining to all things nautical between member clubs and similar associations.
• Improve communication between clubs.
• Forward and advance sailing in all its phases through education and sailing clinics.
• Promote and coordinate interclub, match team racing and other sailing events for and between its members under uniform rules.
Currently there are eleven member clubs with more than four hundred women racing once a week in their respective sailing clubs on both Florida’s West and East Coasts. Membership is open and FWSA welcomes additional sailing clubs. https://www.fwsa.net/