KIRSTEN NEUSHAFER

In honor of Women's History Month, let's look at some amazing women sailors. First up is Kirsten Neuschafer, pictured above, sailing her 36' Ocean Race boat Minehaha. Kirsten is a 40-year-old South African who is currently in the lead in the 2022-23 Golden Globe Race. 

This edition of the Golden Globe marks the 50th anniversary of the first Solo, Non-Stop,  Around the World Race. Current participants must use yachts and equipment that were available fifty years ago, and must sail on boats between 32 and 36 feet in length, designed prior to 1988. Also sailors must navigate with traditional celestial navigation which was used 50 years ago (and many years before that) and may not use modern technology, Which  means no satellite-based navigation aids!

Kirsten has consulted Ocean Passages of the World with its 200-year-old weather routing charts, historical weather and suggested routes from the original clipper sailing ships. Following that advice is now paying strong dividends. As Kirsten nears the end of this lengthy race, which began on on September 2, 2022 with 16 sailors, she is now ahead of the rest of the fleet and heading towards the finish.

Only four sailors remain in this incredible race, as twelve participants have had to withdraw or drop down to the Chichester Class due to various equipment failures and the like. The four remaining competitors have sailed around the world via the five Great Capes and will finish in Les Sables-d'Olonne,  France, probably in April - May, 2023. 

DAWN RILEY

Closer to home, we have many more inspiring women sailors. Pictured below is racing sailor Dawn Riley. As CEO and captain of America True, 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. She is the former president of the Woman’s Sports Foundation, served on the board of US Sailing, and is an advisor to several public service organizations.

STEFANY COULTER

Even closer to home, in the Hudson Valley, we have a number of inspiring women sailors. One notable person is Stefany Coulter, pictured below. She is the founder of Sail Hope, a not-for-profit organization located in Catskill, New York. Sail Hope takes people who normally would not have access to the water out sailing at no cost to them. Stefany will be our Keynote Speaker at the Riverport Women's Sailing Conference on March 24, 2023. 

Click here for more information about Sail Hope.
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At the Sailing School at the Hudson River Maritime Museum, we believe that sailing is a sport one can enjoy throughout many different periods of life, from early childhood to later adulthood. While youth typically learn to sail on tender sailboats called dinghies, there is a wide range of dinghies to suit different ages, levels of fitness, and goals. Some are stable, single-sail boats like the pram pictured above and some are fast, tippy, challenging racing boats.  Here at the sailing school, we offer our youth students opportunities to sail in a variety of dinghies, so they feel comfortable and have the opportunity to challenge themselves when they are ready to do so.  

We offer a parent-child sailing class for children ages five to eight years old to learn with their parents.  Our other classes are for youth ages six through seventeen who learn independently from their parents under the expert guidance of US Sailing-Certified instructors. 

Adults at our Sailing School typically learn on Keelboats, which by definition have a fixed keel (rather than a moveable centerboard) which pretty much ensures capsizes (when the boat flips over and the sails are floating on the water) are virtually impossible. Keelboats also vary tremendously in design and performance, but generally, they are more stable and demand less gymnastic ability than centerboard boats. The yellow boat shown below is one of our Keelboats. 

We do offer some opportunities for adult learners to try out centerboard boats as well if that is something they wish to pursue. The white boat below is one of our Catalina Capri centerboard boats with adult students aboard. 
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If you have been thinking about learning to sail, or if you wish to enroll your child in sailing classes for the 2023 season, now is the time to check out our offerings on line. 

​Classes are filling fast! For more information and registration click on the links below:

Adult Sailing Classes

Youth Sailing Classes

​Are you dreaming of the upcoming sailing season? Do you want to learn more about sailing and related topics? Would you like to network with other sailors and learn where to sail in the Hudson Valley? 

Join with 74 other sailors at the 2023 Riverport Women's Sailing Conference on March 24 - 25, 2023.  Our goal is welcome everyone, especially those who have not had easy access to our sport in the past. To highlight women's accomplishments, all presentations will be led by skilled women mariners.

Join us for an optional inspirational Keynote dinner on March 24 and choose from the following topics on March 25: Environmental Education & Sail Training, The Science of Sailing, Terrestrial Navigation, Becoming a Boat Owner, Sail Care & Repair, Intro to Racing, Spinnaker Racing,  Double-Handed Racing, Sustainable Sailing, HRMM Gallery Tours focused on Women, Diesel Maintenance, Learning the Ropes, Outboard Engine Maintenance, Coastal and Offshore Passages, Weather for the Mariner, and US Inland Navigation Rules.  

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​The Ocean Race is the modern iteration of The Whitbread Around the World race in which Tracy Edwards competed back in 1989-1990 on her famous vessel Maiden, which is shown here in 2022. You can follow Maiden’s current travels around the world to support education for girls at www.themaidenfactor.org

If you are a racer, Dave Dellenbaugh’s Speed and Smarts newsletter offers a wealth of information for improving your racing skills. https://www.speedandsmarts.com/
Dave also offers excellent online classes for reasonable prices. Upcoming classes include
Racing Essentials, Sail Trim Secrets, and Winning Tactics.  
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Here's to some happy Armchair Sailing!​

Back by popular demand, woodworker, boat builder, and woodcarver Andrew Willner will offer a course of practical and decorative woodcarving using basic carving tools and woodworking skills. This class will take place Friday, December 9, Saturday December 10, Friday December 16  & Saturday December 17. 5:30PM-9:00PM Fridays & 9:00AM-5:00PM Saturdays. This course will demonstrate a variety of carving and woodworking techniques including tool sharpening and maintenance, design, drawing and layout, incised lettering, low and high relief carving, and much more. The first project for all students will be a sign for home or boat with incised lettering and decorative feather ends. Returning students are welcome to try their hand at more complex or difficult carvings.
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General Registration: $375
Individual Member Registration: $350
Household Member & Above: $335 
​Materials Fee: $30

During the past month, the support  of HRMM staff and volunteers who have come out to help the Sailing School with Fall boat work has been inspiring!  Volunteers have cleaned boats and sails, organized equipment, repaired boats, and put away boats for winter. 
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​Our fleet consists of two keel boats, two Capri centerboard boats, One Snipe centerboard boat, three 420 centerboard boats, one Catboat (Tidbit), and eight Optimist Pram centerboard boats.  That is a lot of boats to care for! The boats all get a lot of use during the sailing season, with many of the boats being sailed up to seven days a week during our four month season. Normal wear and tear is intensified by the high number of sailing students and classes aboard our boats, and there are a LOT of repairs needed at the end of this season.

          Photo Above: The Author's son Joshua at the helm in New Foundland 

                                           Article by Jonathan Harkness

I joined the Hudson River Maritime Museum  after seeing the focus on women in the Sailing School. My earlier experiences on sailboats were with obnoxious, privileged, and often drunk, white men.  I was more into adventure and not drinking on boats and instead ventured off to do other things over the years. 

However, I purchased our family’s keel boat in the spring of 2021, in an effort to find a family activity in which we could all participate and hopefully inspire some new adventures and acquisition of additional skills.   Your WOW activities were great for Vicki, and the three of us took an adult sailing class together in the summer of 2021, which was a great family bonding and learning experience. 

Vicki and I enjoyed attending the Riverport Women’s Sailing Conference remotely in November, 2021. As a matter of fact,  our son Joshua’s college, The College of the Atlantic, also joined the conference, and he was able to participate from Maine as well.   

Then I attended the Captain’s License course at HRMM in March, 2022. 

Later in the spring of 2022, we joined the HRMM  remote lecture with Tracy Edwards, and we were able to tour Maiden when the famous vessel  came to Kingston in June, we met Tracy Edwards and participated in the Kingston Sailing Club Welcomes Maiden barbecue. These were all amazing experiences. 

Since building our skills through The Sailing School at HRMM,   Joshua and I crewed on a friend’s 28 foot Bristol Channel Cutter doing coastal cruising from  Glovertown,  NewFoundland to St. Johns,  Newfoundland this summer. Our adventure included one all night sail, at 20 knots of wind, begun at 2 am, to avoid an impending storm.  Joshua and I were on watch by ourselves, all night, with just a brief check-in, by the captain. ​

Since that trip,  Joshua and I have been asked to consider being crew members on a trip to Greenland with a friend who has sailed to northern Labrador.  

We are so glad that Vicki and I created these opportunities for Joshua who said that he and his girlfriend now have a goal of completing a transatlantic crossing to Scotland and Ireland  after college graduation.
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The Sailing School at HRMM’s  enthusiasm for sailing and focus on inclusivity have thoroughly inspired Vicki,  Joshua, and me. Thank you! 
 
By Jonathan Harkness
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Photo Above: The author's son Joshua fishing in New Foundland