BoatUS.com: Women in Boating Leadership Award

World class sailor Dawn Riley (center) accepts the 2003 Leadership in Women's Sailing Award from Elaine Dickinson of BoatU.S. (at left) and Diana Smith of National Women's Sailing Association during a gala dinner at the Women Sailing Conference June 7 in Marblehead, MA.

Leadership in Women's Sailing Award Sponsored by BoatU.S. and National Women’s Sailing Association

Begun in 1999, this award honors an individual who has built up a record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women though sailing.

The 2003 recipient is Dawn Riley. Dawn Riley, the world champion sailor who has made great strides in developing sailing outreach programs for young people, was presented with the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award this weekend at the 2nd annual Women’s Sailing Conference held at the Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. Sponsored by the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatU.S.) and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA), the award honors a male or female who has gone beyond competitive racing and leveraged their name, skills, or position in the sailing world to reach out and enrich other’s lives through sailing.

"No one is more deserving of this honor than Dawn Riley," said Elaine Dickinson of BoatU.S., who presented the award along with NWSA President Diana Smith. "Her racing career has been extraordinary, breaking numerous barriers for women. But she’s also gone beyond winning trophies to give something back to the sport and to society at large through her America True Foundation."

Riley founded and leads the America True Foundation, whose goal is to bring the joy of sailing to youth nationwide. Other accomplishments include being the first woman to head up an America’s Cup Syndicate (2000) as well as team captain of the first all-women’s America’s Cup team, America3 (1995). She was the only female crew member on an America’s Cup team in 1992 and she led the Heineken team, the all-women’s entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race (1993-94). Riley was the first two-time winner of the world-class BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup women’s match race regatta; the first sailor to be named President of the Women’s Sports Foundation; and also the 1999 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year.

At the Women’s Sailing Conference over 110 women – from college students to grandmothers – learned new skills as well as brushed up on old ones and networked with other women sailors. The Conference is one of many events that BoatU.S. – with 540,000 members – sponsors that promotes boating opportunities for women. Others include the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup, the annual Women’s Sailing Convention in Southern California, and “Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing!” seminars. BoatU.S. also features a Women in Boating Web site at http://www.BoatUS.com/women.

The Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award for 2001 was presented to Gail Hine, a southern California grassroots organizer who founded the Women’s Sailing Convention over a decade ago. Hine was also president of Recreational Boaters of California and has worked for 30 years to expand sailing opportunities for women. With her at the awards ceremony in Sail Expo, Atlantic City, on Jan. 25 is Doris Colgate, at left, founder of the National Women’s Sailing Association, and Elaine Dickinson, at right, managing editor of BoatU.S. Magazine. The annual award is jointly sponsored by NWSA and BoatU.S.

The 2001 recipient is Gail Hine, a leader in women’s sailing programs for over 30 years in Southern California. Gail is one of the first women sailors in the U.S. to organize large-scale training events just for women and her annual Women’s Sailing Convention is in its 13th year. Held at Corona del Mar, CA, the convention involves 330 participants led by women expert instructors in both classroom and on-the-water seminars. Hine was the first female commodore of her yacht club, served as president of Recreational Boaters of California as well as on the BoatU.S. National Advisory Council, and was named "Yachtsman of the Year" in 1990 — "the Peggy Slater Award" — by the Southern California Yachting Association. She still finds time to race her Nightingale 24 in local regattas.

Click here to read the press release on the 2001 winner.

The Leadership in Women's Sailing Award was presented this year to Betsy Alison, the top-ranked U.S. women's match racer holding 22 national and international titles, and mentor to young people in numerous sailing programs. As coach, Alison led the U.S. Disabled/ Paralympic sailing team to a Bronze medal. With her is Doris Colgate, at left, president of the National Women's Sailing Association, and Becky Squires, director of public relations for BoatU.S. The annual award is jointly sponsored by NWSA and BoatU.S.

The 2000 recipient is Betsy Alison, one of the top-ranked women sailors in the U.S. and the world. She has the number one ranking in the U.S. for women's match racing and is ranked second in the world. Her current goal is to win an Olympic medal in 2004 in the new women's keelboat discipline in the Olympic Games to be held in Athens, Greece. But Betsy has done much more than race and much of her leadership has been in advising and coaching disabled sailors. She recently coached the U.S. Disabled/Paralympic Sailing Team to a bronze medal in Sydney. She has also volunteered her time to the National Women's Sailing Association's AdventureSail program which reaches out to inner city and at-risk young women. Alison holds 22 national, international and world sailing titles.

Click here to read the press release on the 2000 winner.

The first recipient of the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award, Bernadette Bernon, center, received the trophy at Sail Expo in Atlantic City in January. Bernadette is the editor of Cruising World magazine and has sponsored numerous outreach efforts to make sailing and cruising more accessible to women. With her is Doris Colgate, at left, president of the National Women’s Sailing Association, and Jim Ellis, at right, executive vice president of BoatU.S. The annual award is jointly sponsored by BoatU.S. and NWSA.

The 1999 recipient was Bernadette Bernon, former editor of Cruising World magazine and founding director of the Cruising World Safety at Sea Institute which has educated over 15,000 sailors at their seminars. She has served on the BoatU.S. National Advisory Council, and the boards of the National Women’s Sailing Association, Sail Expo and Sail America.

Click here to read press release on 1999 winner.