Recognizing leadership in women’s sailing

At the 2024 National Women’s Sailing Conference, BoatU.S. and the National Women’s Sailing Association honored Jerelyn Biehl with the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award.

The award began in 1999 and is given annually to honor an individual who has a record of achievement in inspiring, educating, and enriching the lives of women through sailing.

The youngest of three children, Biehl was born into a sailing family. She learned sailing from her parents and as a teenager absorbed all things boating at her parent’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).

“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,” noted NWSA president Debby Grimm.

Biehl has supported women’s and girls’ sailing for more than 40 years at the local, national, and international levels. She has also served as a board member of the California International Sailing Association (CISA), which held an annual advanced racing clinic and helped to ensure there were female coaches and instructors to encourage and teach high-level sailing skills to girls.

She worked to create more recognition and support for girls’ racing in the 29er class, which eventually led to a change in the requirements for the Youth Sailing World Championship which had been too restrictive. Around the same time, she was involved in the process for including a women’s skiff to complement the men’s skiff in the Olympics.

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 train women who had never raced or had little racing experience. The program also trained and encouraged 130 women to take their boats to Catalina Island for the club’s first women’s cruise.

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.

Additional recognitions Biehl has received include 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.

“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,” said Biehl. “We finally have 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.”

Biehl continues her positions as vice commodore of San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs, SDYC Sailing Foundation Board president, and CISA board member. She resides in San Diego, CA.

More information: http://womensailing.org/leadership-in-womens-sailing-award/

Source: NWSC