The inaugural Women at the Helm Regatta was held on the waters of Shilshole Bay last weekend. It was special event, for all the reasons!
From Women at the Helm Regatta mastermind and skipper of the Olson 25 “O”, Jennifer Harkness: an avid cruiser, racer, and women’s advocate in Puget Sound whose other writing can be found at www.skipperjenn.com:
Sloop Tavern Yacht Club (STYC) presented us all with an opportunity this year to support the many amazing women sailors in our community. Women at the Helm (WATH) was a buoy race with one specific rule: women had to be driving. The conditions on Shilshole Bay were perfect for a regatta—sunshine and consistent, light breeze in the morning that built throughout the day. I think I can speak for most people and say that we all needed a day on the water! STYC and race coordinator, Eric Finn, did their best to keep us all safe with COVID-19 specific rules. Simply put, it was the best.
The committee got in three races, with the middle one being posted NMEN (north starting mark, Meadow Point buoy, outermost green ship canal buoy, and back to the N mark). Hilariously, one of the helmswomen hailed the committee asking with mirth, “Are you seriously setting a course called MEN at a women’s regatta?”
Committee boat PRO and STYC handicapper, Marc-Andrea Klimasmaschewski, handled it well, saying sincerely that there was no meaning behind it other than he wanted to set a short course so we could get in three starts for the day. It was an understandable decision after a long first race with a double-lap of Meadow Point and the Ballard Buoy that took a full 2.5 hours. Some boats were not able to finish that race due to the conditions.
Many of us were curious about how Class 4 would go with a mix of J/80’s and J/105’s. Lizzy Grim on Reckless, a J/80, took first in class. This was a special win for two big reasons. One, it was her first regatta at the helm. Ever. Two, Lizzy deserved a big win after the disappointing postponement of her long awaited plan to sail halfway around the world with the Clipper Round the World Race, which was postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic. Lizzy is the perfect example of why we need more opportunities for women to lead in our sailing community.
Overall, the race was one of the best and most competitive I have sailed in. Christina Wolfe, with her J/111 Raku from Orcas Island Yacht Club, came down and took first overall. She was followed by the usual suspects: Nefarious helmed by Regan Edwards and Poke & Destroy with Elisha Van Luven at the tiller. It is a powerful statement of representation to look at the race results with all women’s names on the roster.
I certainly hope STYC makes this an annual event. With 35 boats signed up despite the pandemic (30 boats raced on regatta day), it’s clear that races like this are wanted in our community. I’m hoping more yacht clubs follow suit with women’s events, especially after The World Sailing Trust put out its strategic review of women in sailing in 2019 showing that there is explicit discrimination in the sailing world. We have a lot of skilled women on the water in the PNW, it would be great to highlight their abilities and invite more women into the sport.
From “The Sailing Unicorn” Lizzy Grim, who helmed J/80 “Reckless” to a class win, and whose adventures can be found at sailingunicorn.com:
HOLY WOW. The WATH regatta was nothing short of incredible.
Emre Sezer, owner of J/80 Reckless, empowered me to helm his boat and build a crew—so build a crew I did! We had Kathy Harris, a new racer who continues to wow us with how quickly she is ramping up on the good ship Reckless. The ray of sunshine that is Stephanie Campbell came down from tropical Anacortes to kick butt trimming main, calling tactics, and coaching Kathy and I. Emre for the most part sat pretty on the rail (ha!) and worked with Kathy on hoists and headsail trim, while offering thoughts on course and tactics.
With our epic crew assembled, this thing was really on! The week leading up to the race I was a mix of nerves and excitement. Seeing the list of rad lady skippers and the boats who would be out, I knew that there would be some serious competition. The nerves got a bit bigger when the class breaks got announced: OMG, the J/80 fleet was going to be combined with the J/105s? ACK, those are some big boats and a very competitive fleet! I figured, ‘Alright, we’ll have a fun race, but won’t likely end up with anything too impressive results wise.’ Turns out the universe had different plans.
The day of the race was full of nothing but good vibes on Reckless. I brought tutus for everyone on the team, because I wanted to make things even more fun and I could. Plus, I’m missing the usual summer outlet I have for dressing in goofy outfits on sailboats: Duck Dodge. I miss you, Duck Dodge, but I know the committee is making the right choice by not holding the race.
We got the boat ready and made our way out to the starting area. Masked smiles and waves were shared across the course, and soon it was time to start. One such wave was to the boat my mom, Elly Cyr, was helming. It was really special that, for the first time, my mom and I were both helming boats for a race.
Nerves were firing on all cylinders, but thanks to Steph and John coaching me, we wriggled our way through the fleet and got into a clean spot. The usual debate of how far to go to the beach to Meadow Point ensued, then before we knew it it was time to get ready for the spinnaker hoist. AH! High stakes, helming for my first kite hoist in a real race! Can we pull this off?
The crew did a great job and off we went. We continued to sail our race and… holy crap, the finish line is almost here. Wait, are we right by the 105s? How much time do they owe us? We might have this one! Sure enough, we did win the first race and suddenly my mind went from “Ok, let’s just have a clean day of racing,” to “FULL SEND BABY!”
Between-race beers and lunch were had, and the rest of the day carried on fantastically. There were a couple of spicy moments with other boats that served as yet another indicator that this wasn’t a play regatta, this was a real regatta with real stakes.
The last race of the day was the longest race, sending us to the mark everyone loves to hate: Spring Beach. For this one, we figured the 105s would walk away from us and sure enough they did. When we finally determined that we did in fact have sight of the mark (and weren’t being fooled by a seagull or crab buoy), we prepared for our final hoist of the day and again it went beautifully. Next stop, after a few lovely gybes, was the finish. A chorus of big whoops and hollers went up when we crossed the line, then we realized the rest of the J/80 fleet was behind us… which led to more whoops and hollers.
After we finished the last race, I was on Cloud 9. I couldn’t believe it. Thanks to an amazing crew, I had successfully finished helming my first real regatta! We made our way back to the dock for some well-earned beers and snacks, a few other sailors joined us for what became a lovely socially-distant hang out on V dock. I’d squirreled a bottle of Prosecco away in the dock box and I popped it on the bow, and promptly sprayed some of it around in victorious Grand Prix fashion. The day had just been too much fun.
We knew at that point that we had sailed well, but were eagerly awaiting the news of how we had done on the rest of the fleet. Preliminary results were posted and… WAIT. WHAT?! Some happy swear words (sailing words?) came out of my mouth when Reckless was listed at the top of the class results list. We sailed against all those talented ladies of the J/80 and J/105 fleets and we won?! I was speechless and admittedly teared up a little bit.
Women at the Helm had been an absolute dream for me, with everyone on the boat working really well; and to get rewarded for that with a win at the first regatta I helmed…it was unreal. I have nothing but big, big gratitude and love for the organizers of the WATH regatta, including fellow badass unicorn Jenn Harkness, Sloop Tavern Yacht Club for being willing to safely put on a regatta in the middle of a pandemic, the boat owners who gave their vessels over for the day, and last but not least the amazing talent spread across the helms and crews on the race course.
This event proved that women’s sailing is not just some fluffy thing (unless tutus are involved, and even then turns out that’s a winning combo!)—women can and do sail just as hard and well as any other gender. We are fortunate in the PNW to have some amazing role models like Team Sail Like a Girl and many others. We also have a lot farther we can go to get equity in the sport. I look forward to many more awesome events that empower women to sail and hope that one day there is a true mix of genders and races spread across the race course. As for my next adventure? I’m looking forward to the SHE Regatta in September and the rad lady crew to be assembled. Best believe there will be tutus!
