Welcome to the Women's Sailing Association

As the sun set behind the Santa Monica Windjammers Yacht Club, I made my way to the gathering of the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay. I had heard of the group for years, and had sailed with a couple of its members, but I didn’t know what to expect.

The club was founded in 1985 under the leadership of Shelli Dickenson . It was originally a women’s only group that soon grew to 40 members.

“The WSA is fabulous,” 2011 Commodore Christina Tarantola told me.

“We get women involved in racing, day sailing and cruising. We just finished one of the signature events that we co-sponsor, Women on the Water; Women at the Helm. Soon, we’ll be competing with a crew in the Linda Elias Memorial Women's One Design Regatta on Catalina 37s in Long Beach," she continued.

Kathy Hung is a new member.

“I joined so I’d have access to boats,” she told me.

“At $100 a year it’s a great value, because members can not only participate in our events, but they can get into other local yacht clubs because of our reciprocal relationships,” Tarantola said.

From now until the end of the year, new members can join for just $50.

As I looked at the large crowd gathered for the monthly meeting of the WSA I was startled by the number of men who showed. When WSA was incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1986, board members voted to allow men to participate and serve on the board while keeping the commodore female.

“We’ve got about 150 members with about a third of them men,” Tarantola told me.

George Maronick is a skipper who joined because he needed crew. He 's impressed at how welcoming the club is and how many events it holds, "including day sails, and cruises to Catalina and the Channel Islands.”

Michael Gitchel is another guy who is a big supporter. He has been a member for 15 years.

Member Diane Destiny and I had sailed together, including crewing on an overnight race to San Diego. “This is a very active, well run club,” she said.

Destiny was at the WSA meeting as part of a crew from the group that had spent a vacation sailing and snorkeling in Belize. The high point of the meeting was a video of the sojourn shot both over and under the water. It showed a couple of crews sharing a week of sailing, on bare boat charters skippered by two capable women, one of whom was a licensed U.S. Coast Guard captain.

After watching the presentation, Wayne Brandow, the skipper of an Olson 30, said that the best reason to become a member of the group was why he joined.

“The money goes to a good cause, supporting sailing programs for women," Brandow said.

As I looked around the room, I saw what he meant. The women were young and older, but all seemed confident, and eager to head back onto the water.