Join us in Long Beach for the 2026 NWSA/SCYA Women’s Sailing
Conference! There is no better way to experience the water than with a
friend. Introduce a novice or non-sailor to the sport by having her—or both
of you—register for the Take the Helm track. You’ll each save $50 on
registration while helping us grow our community of women sailors.
Take the Helm Track
This track is designed for adult women ready to start their sailing journey. In
the classroom, you will master boat terminology, essential safety practices,
and the mechanics of tacking and gybing. At the dock, we will move to
hands-on-training: learning to raise and lower sails, and how trim them to
reach your destination, and much more. Then head out on the water to put
your newfound knowledge into practice.
Women Teaching Women
Meet the “Faculty”
Instructor Bios
Fortune Abor
Fortune Abor is a sailing instructor at the Orange Coast College
Sailing
Center, where she teaches students the fundamentals of sailing and
seamanship. With a strong commitment to safety and skill development,
Fortune creates an engaging and supportive environment for sailors of all
levels.
She holds US Sailing Instructor Certification and is passionate about
sharing her love for the water. Recently, Fortune completed the Baja Ha-
Ha, a renowned cruising rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, which
deepened her experience in offshore sailing and adventure cruising.
Fortune’s teaching style emphasizes confidence, hands-on learning, and
fostering a lifelong appreciation for sailing. Whether guiding beginners or
helping experienced sailors refine their technique, she brings enthusiasm
and real-world knowledge to every class.
Allison Bell
A third-generation sailor and a fixture in the Southern California
boating
and racing community. She currently serves as Commodore of the San
Diego Yacht Club and Commodore of the Transpacific Yacht Club. In
2025 she made history as the first female skipper to win the Transpacific
Yacht Race (Los Angeles to Honolulu) overall, aboard the Cal 40
Restless.
Professionally, Alli is an independent consultant specializing in
strategic planning, project management, facilitation, and research &
evaluation. Previously, she served as Vice President of Policy Research at
the Campaign for College Opportunity, Director at HCM Strategists, and
associate research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics.
Alli earned her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, and her
master’s in education and Ph.D. in higher education from the University
of Michigan.
Colleen Clay
Captain Colleen Clay is a USCG 100GRT Master, and a US Sailing
Safe
Powerboat, Powerboat Cruising, Night Ops, and sail instructor with
Orange Coast College. Colleen is also an American Sailing certified
sailing instructor and teaches USCG credential classes. She created the
Sailing into Science program in 2000 to promote maritime youth
education and opportunity.
Colleen served as the National Director of
Emergency Management for AmeriCorps, was a national leader in
disaster response and recovery, and served as a local politician in the
Washington, DC area before returning to Southern California in 2016. She
is currently cruising Mexico with her wife Chance and dog Violeta.
Wendy Corzine
Wendy Corzine is a US Sailing Certified Regional Race Officer who
has been involved with regatta management for 10 years. She has
experience as a race officer and as a competitor with match racing, fleet
racing, PHRF racing and distance racing. She has taught beginning race
management courses, as well as trained people on the water for race
management. She currently serves on the Flag at Long Beach Yacht Club.
Suzy Curry
Suzy Curry has been getting people “knotty” in the best way for more
than twenty years. A long-time Girl Scout climbing instructor, she’s taught
countless adventurers how to tie knots, stay safe, and feel fearless-whether
they’re on a rock wall or dangling from a rope for the very first time. These
days, Suzy brings that same fun, confidence-boosting energy to the water.
As an active instructor with the Women’s Sailing Association (WSA),
King Harbor’s Women’s Boating Fleet, and multiple youth sailing programs,
she mixes technical know-how with an easygoing, encouraging style that
helps sailors of all ages feel right at home on deck.
A certified trainer and natural cheerleader for learning, Suzy loves
turning “I’m not sure I can do this” into “Hey, look what I just did!” Whether
teaching a bowline, a belay, or anything in between, she inspires students to
master the ropes!literally! and discover the joy of adventure along the way.
Debby Grimm
Debby Grimm began her sailing career at Girl Scout camp, eventually
progressing to high-level competitive racing. She frequently skippers her
family’s J/30, Hot Chocolate, competing in the Rolex International Women’s
Keelboat Championship, the U.S. Women’s Championship (Match Racing),
and J/30 North Americans. Her regional honors include being a six-time
GYA Women’s PHRF Champion and multiple-time winner of the Coco
Seemann, Race for the Roses, and Women’s Trilogy events.
For her performance on the water, she was named Female Sailor of
the Year at New Orleans Yacht Club (2001) and Southern Yacht Club’s
Outstanding Woman Sailor (2012).
Professionally, Dr. Grimm is a research scientist at Tulane
University’s Coordinated Instrumentation Facility. She is a founding member
and former Commodore of the Lake Pontchartrain Women’s Sailing
Association and remains a passionate supporter of women’s sailing. Locally,
she volunteers her time and her boat to mentor new sailors and get more
women out on the water. She resides in New Orleans with her husband,
Casey, and their daughter, Kaylor.
Debbie Huntsman
Debbie Huntsman has three plus decades of inland, coastal, and
international cruising and racing experience along the North American West
coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. She has sailed desert lakes in
the Southwest, Lake Pontchartrain near the Gulf, and has cruised the
Bahamas, Caribbean, and South Pacific. She recently relocated to the
Atlantic coast where she has plans to learn about the Potomac,
Chesapeake, and the Atlantic.
She retired from the Coast Guard Auxiliary with an AUXOP
certification encompassing speciality qualifications in Search and Rescue,
Communications, Seamanship, Navigation, Weather, Instruction, and how to
do proper government paperwork. She qualified as a USCG AUX small boat
coxswain. She was a volunteer delivering public boating safety education for
the 8th Coast Guard District, States of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and
Louisiana.
She is currently a small boat and keel boat instructor and a Safety at
Sea moderator for US Sailing where she also serves on the Author B
Hanson Rescue Award committee. She holds a US Coast Guard Master’s
license.
Debbi Juster
Dr. Debbi Juster learned to sail as a child at Mother’s Beach in
Marina del Rey, and she is still going strong today. She jumps at any chance
to sail locally or across the globe and has become a trusted presence on
board. Professionally, she is trained as a general internist, and has worked
in emergency rooms and urgent cares, as well as served on many medical
missions abroad.
Drawing on her medical training, she has often assisted fellow sailors
with injuries or medical emergencies, though she’ll happily tell you, she
prefers the role of First Mate. She is known for blending a heavy dose of
humor as she talks on practical aspects of medicine at sea, including
treating common medical problems, handling medical emergencies, and
prevention.
Barbara Lawler
Barbara Lawler began sailing Sabots as a child before cruising the
Caribbean aboard a Peterson 44 in the 80s. During that time, she earned
her 100-ton license and delivered boats throughout the Caribbean and up
the East Coast. In the 1990s, she cruised Southeast Asia, navigating from
Singapore to Langkawi, Bali, and Australia.
She next took up racing Schock 35s in Marina del Rey, as well as
performing some deliveries. In 2001, she raced her first Transpac on an
Olson 40. From 2007 to 2010, Barbara completed a global circumnavigation
with the man of her dreams on their own boat. A veteran of six Transpacs,
she now races her Harbor 20 in Newport Beach.
Margaret Pommert
Margaret Pommert is V.P. for Safety at Sea for The Sailing
Foundation, which developed the Lifesling. She chairs the Hanson Rescue
Medal, a national award which recognizes lifesaving at sea. Margaret has
gathered lessons learned from hundreds of boaters directly involved in man-
overboard incidents. She has partnered in overboard research with leading
boating organizations, and her expertise is featured in a variety of
publications. Margaret’s credentials include:
Master Instructor for both Sail and Power, Vessel Emergency Drill
Instructor, Boat Rental Safety for Charter Companies, Life Jacket Wear
Rate Observational Study team leader, Lifesling Master Instructor, USCG
100-ton Master. Details: https://seattleonthewater.com/
Karen Prioleau
Karen Prioleau holds a 100GT US Coast Guard captain’s license,
and has led many offshore voyages on a variety of vessels with co-ed and
all-female crews through the Pacific Ocean, including Alaska, Hawaii,
French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Easter Island, as well as through
Panama and the Caribbean.
She is a Master Instructor Trainer for US Sailing and US
Powerboating, and has served on the US Sailing National Faculty for many
years helping develop navigation and sail training materials.
In 2005, she organized tests of crew overboard rescue techniques on
San Francisco Bay with nearly 400 live rescues. In 2025, she was awarded
the ‘Timothea Larr Award’ by US Sailing for her outstanding contribution to
maritime education. She was also part of a National Maritime Training
Standards committee, and has hosted and presented at multiple ‘Safety at
Sea’ seminars.
Karen also maintains close ties with several US maritime academies
and marine industry professionals. Certs include STCW Basic Training
Instructor, Fishing Drill Instructor, Red Cross Instructor, ECDIS, USCG Train
the Trainer, Master instructor Trainer for US Sailing/US Powerboating.
Wendy Sarnoff
Wendy Sarnoff is a USCG 100-ton Merchant Mariner Master with
Sailing and Towing endorsements, as well as a USCG Train-the-Trainer
designation. An ASA and AB Senior Master Instructor, she currently serves
as a Tall Ship Captain for LAMI aboard the Exy and Irving Johnson.
Her instructional expertise extends to the University of Southern
California (USC), where she teaches Navigation and the Nautical Sciences
curriculum. Wendy teaches USCG approved courses which include the
USCG OUPV – Limited License and Sailing Endorsement ourses. She is
owner of CSMMA (California Sailing Merchant Mariner Academy).
Her USCG approved (in person) OUPV, 100 ton, 12 hour Sailing
Endorsement and Towing Endorsements will be available in Fall 2026.
For the past four years, Wendy has co-moderated US Sailing Safety-at-Sea
seminars and is a frequent speaker at maritime organizations, including
AYC, Del Rey YC, SMWYC, and the WSA of Marina del Rey and Long
Beach.
Her racing resume includes the 2019 Transpac and return, the Santa
Barbara to King Harbor (SBKH), Newport to Ensenada (N2E), the Islands
Race, and the California Coastal 300.
Beyond her work as a charter and delivery captain, Wendy is a writer
and advocate for women on the water. As she shares in her prose: “Tack
and Clew and She make three. All of them sail the seas, in glee. Â With
welcoming hands, tall ships, she commands, knowing women and girls are
gems; ocean pearls. Our speaking, our knowledge, our skills set us free!”
Love, Tack and Clew the Catalina Mongoose Sisters (in memory of Tiller).
Capt. Holly Scott
Capt. Holly Scott is a veteran maritime professional and a frequent
presenter at nearly every Women’s Sailing Convention. She holds a USCG
100-ton Master’s license and is the founder of Mahalo Sailing, a travel
business specializing in curated sailing adventures.
In addition to her work as a captain and business owner, Holly brings
a deep technical background to the water as the former owner of a yacht
repair business. She has a lifelong passion for vessel restoration and
currently manages a personal fleet of vintage boats. Combining her
technical expertise with her love for the sea, Holly remains a dedicated
mentor to the sailing community.
Maureen Vild
Maureen Vild is an accomplished sailor and boater with over 50
years of
experience. She achieved a USCG Master Captain’s License and
instruction certification with US Sailing and Powerboating, ASA,
NauticEd, and is an instructor at Orange Coast College School of Sailing
& Seamanship. She has instructed and coached women the last three
years of the Sailing Convention for Women, by Gail Hine.
Maureen is a charter yacht captain and has led destination charters
in the British Virgin Islands, the Sea of Cortez, Greece, and along the
Southern
California coast. Maureen is passionate about empowering women on the
water and is known for her calm, hands-on teaching style. Her goal is
simple: to help skippers develop the skills, knowledge, and mindset to
take the helm with competence and confidence.
Kimberly Walther
Captain Kim Walther has been teaching sailing for over 30 years.
She is an American Sailing instructor at St. Augustine Sailing in Northeast
Florida. She trains students on everything from small keelboats to large
catamarans and sloops. Her passion for the ocean and sailing comes
through in her writing on her lifestyle blog “Deep Water Happy” where she
shares tips on everything from sailing to travel to healthy living.
She has a self-proclaimed obsession with the outdoors and has
sailed the east coast from Maine to the Caribbean. If she is not racing with
the St. Augustine Yacht Club, she is teaching ASA sailing courses, diving,
running, or cycling.
Captain Kim Walther, holds a 100-ton near coastal (offshore) USCG
master’s license with sailing and towing endorsements. Having taught over
3,000 students, she attributes her mastery to diverse experiences and
continual skill refinement. Recognized as an ASA instructor of 101, 103,
104, 105, 114, 116, and 118 and honored ASA Instructor of the Year, Kim
has refined her expertise through an impressive accumulation of over
30,000 hours teaching sailing.
Kim’s passion for sailing extends to classes, charters, deliveries, and
races (both inland and offshore). Kim has experience operating various
vessels, including, currently, 21’6″ Hunter sloops as well as Jeanneau 349
sloops, Jeanneau 41? and 44? sloops, a Lagoon 44 catamaran, and even a
49-passenger pontoon boat with twin 200 hp engines.
Kim teaches sailing during the summer at the WoodenBoat School in
Brooklin, Maine, and hosts international webinars covering sailing skills
several times a year through American Sailing. Kim joined the NWSA board
in August 2025.
HURRY! Late registration closes March 10, 2026. NWSA members
still receive preferred pricing, so join now if you are not already a member
and take advantage of this discount.