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The Fifth Annual Conference
Will Be A Virtual Event 
10 am to 4 pm, November 13, 2021
$60 Per Public Household
$50 Per HRMM Member Household
$150 Per Organization
This $50-60 household fee enables you to include a few close friends or family members to participate with you!  The $150 organization registration fee is designed for yacht clubs, sailing schools, community sailing groups, etc. of more than five people to participate together.  For more information, email jsterling@hrmm.org
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​Tracy Edwards, MBE, captain of Maiden will be our Keynote Speaker.  Tracy Edwards was Skipper of Maiden,  the all-woman boat, top competitor in the Whitbread Around the World race in 1989-1990, and subject of the recent documentary Maiden.  Tracy was awarded an MBE and became the first woman to win the British Yachtsman of the Year Award in its 34 year history. She then went on to skipper the first all-female non stop around the world record attempt and managed Maiden II, the first ever fully mixed-sex professional racing team. 
​ Tracy will speak about the effects of Covid-19 on education for girls and how we can join with The Maiden Factor Foundation in working to improve the situation around the world. ​
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​​Captain Dawn Riley was the first woman to manage an America's Cup sailing team. She has raced on four America’s Cup and two Whitbread (now The Ocean Race) teams. Dawn now runs Oakcliff Sailing Center, which provides opportunities for participants to do many levels of inshore and offshore racing.  Based in Oyster Bay, NY, Oakcliff hosts sailors from around the world and trains them to work and sail at the highest levels of the sport. Dawn will present How to Develop as a Racing Sailor. 
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When she was in her mid-thirties, Deborah Mellen had a Spinal Cord Injury, so she now uses a wheelchair for mobility. Soon after her injury, she moved to Miami and found Shake a Leg, a marina and water sports organization for people with and without disabilities, where she learned to sail and found an emotional and visceral freedom that she no longer felt while combating design obstacles on land.  In 2013,  she found a 60 foot catamaran for sale in England that had been designed from the hulls up to be wheelchair accessible, she inspected it, and she  fell in love with the boat. Deborah brought the vessel home to Shake-A-Leg in Miami and created a non-profit organization,  “Impossible Dream,”  whose mission is to bring like-minded people together as they experience the empowering sensation of living and crewing on the Impossible Dream in a barrier free environment. Each year, during its summer tour, Impossible Dream travels the East Coast  from June until October.   Deborah will present Sailing as Therapy. 

The fifth annual Riverport Women's Sailing Conference is going virtual and international! 
Join us Saturday, November 13, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, New York time. 

In addition to the presenters and topics shown above, workshops will include Weather/Wind, Rules of the Road, Basic Navigation, Safety Around Large Vessels, Outboard Engine Troubleshooting, Buying a Boat, Sustainable Sailing, Introduction to Racing, The Racing Rules of Sailing, and  Fast Upwind Sailing for Racers, all presented by experienced women mariners.  Each participant may choose to attend the keynote address and four of the twelve workshops as well as the closing panel,   with local women sailors who will share opportunities for sailing in our area. 

Concurrent sessions will be recorded, so participants will be able to return at a later date and watch presentations they missed during the live conference. 

The fee is $60 per household ($50 for HRMM members).  Gather with a friend or family member or two and prepare to be inspired and educated! Men are welcomed to join us, though all presenters will be highly experienced women mariners. 
Organizations such as sailing teams, community sailors, yacht club groups, and school groups are also encouraged participate. The organization fee is $150.

We will send registrants more information and a Zoom link a week before the November 13 conference.   

​​                                   Conference Schedule

During the conference,  participants will choose one topic to attend during each of the four workshop sessions. All sessions will be recorded, and participants may watch the sessions they missed later. 

10:00 AM     Keynote Address with Tracy Edwards, The Maiden Factor Foundation    
11:00 AM     Workshop Period I : Weather/Wind, Sailing as Therapy, Intro to Racing
12:00 PM     Workshop Period II: Rules of the Road, Outboard Engine Troubleshooting, Racing Rules of Sailing 
1:00   PM     Workshop Period III: Basic Navigation, Buying A Boat, Fast Upwind Sailing
2:00   PM     Workshop Period IV: Safety Around Large Vessels, Sailing Sustainably, How to Develop as a Racing Sailor
3:00   PM     Closing Panel/Meet & Greet: Learn how to get out sailing in general and in the Kingston area in particular and meet local sailors

 
   

Support Our Sponsors

The Women's Sailing Conference is supported in part by sponsors. Our 2021 sponsors include:
Print the event flyer:
Kingston Sailing Club