Scholarships Available for International, Virtual Women’s Sailing Conference

Sailing aboard the Impossible Dream, a universally accessible sailboat.

​KINGSTON, N.Y. –  Thanks to generous donations from supporters, scholarships are now available for women, men and teens to attend the Fourth Annual Riverport Women’s Virtual, International Sailing Conference. Hosted by the Hudson River Maritime Museum and Kingston Sailing Club, the virtual conference will take place on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2020.  
 
The event will energize and empower women and men to get involved in sailing at all levels. Everyone is welcome, from experienced sailors to those who have never been on the water before! Conference registration is by household, so gather around your screens to participate in these amazing opportunities. All presentations will be recorded, so  participants will have exclusive access to  view the entire conference after the event concludes.
 
On Friday, November 6 at 5:00 pm, we feature our keynote speaker, Captain Dawn Riley, who was the first woman to manage an America’s Cup sailing team, has sailed on four America’s Cup and two Whitbread (now The Ocean Race) teams, and now runs Oakcliff Sailing Center (oakcliffsailing.org), in Oyster Bay, New York which provides opportunities for participants to build world class sailing skills in local and offshore racing.
 
Tracy Edwards, captain of Maiden, opens our Saturday, November 7 session at 1:00 p.m. You may recognize Tracy’s name from the recent film Maiden (2019), about the all-women crew (including Dawn Riley) she led in the Whitbread Around the World Race in 1989-1990. Tracy will regale us with stories about Maiden and will also update us on the Maiden Factor’s efforts to educate girls around the world (themaidenfactor.org).
 
On Saturday afternoon, several concurrent sessions will be available to choose from. The panel Community Outreach: Equity and Inclusion, will focus on welcoming people from many backgrounds into the sailing community. Presenters come from the Bayshore Center at Bivalve in Port Morris, New Jersey; the Brooklyn Boatworks in Brooklyn, New York, and Hudson River Community Sailing in New York, New York.
 
Another Saturday afternoon panel, Pathways for New Sailors, will showcase the many ways in which people from diverse backgrounds can gain a foothold in sailing. It features presenters from the Hudson River Maritime Museum, the Impossible Dream, the National Women’s Sailing Association, the Oakcliff Sailing Center, the Rozalia Project, and Women Who Sail.
 
Other concurrent sessions include:
 
●       Basic Navigation
●       Blue Water Sailing
●       Communications at Sea
●       The History and Mission of the Sloop Clearwater
●       Safety Around Large Vessels
●       Maritime Careers
●       Sail Care and Repair
●       and Outboard Engine Troubleshooting
 
The Saturday concurrent sessions will continue until 6:00 pm. Recordings of all sessions will be available online after the conference concludes.
 
The fee for the entire conference is just $50 per household. We welcome participants from low-income and underserved communities. Scholarships are for $40 per household, reducing the cost to just $10. To apply, use our easy scholarship application on the main conference page of our website.    
 
For more information, to register, and/or to apply for a scholarship, please visit www.hrmm.org/sailing-conference or email [email protected].

Sailing Conference