SkipHers clinic at Balboa Yacht Club teaches women how to sail, compete in harbor races
SkipHers, a women’s sailing clinic, began at Balboa Yacht Club as a trial program in August 2019 just to see how the idea would float among members.
“It was supposed to be for one month,” said instructor/coach Jane Hoffner. “It was so well received, we added another month that year and then restarted the following year.”
Now in its fourth year, the program for women that’s also taught by women runs between May and September, meeting every Monday night at the Balboa Yacht Club in Corona del Mar.
“It’s about empowering and teaching women to sail,” said Hoffner. “We encourage beginners and those with experience to come out and sail, Monday nights at BYC on Harbor 20s.”
Assistant coach Gena Reed, the tactician who coordinates the program’s activities, said the seven-member team behind the SkipHers is comprised of four coaches and three assistant coaches, all of whom are volunteers with shared responsibilities.
“The real purpose [of the SkipHers] is more women getting comfortable on water,” Reed said. “We want to get women active in the group and proficient enough to take a Harbor 20 out into the bay without oversight.”
Hoffner said the program provides a “safe, supportive, encouraging environment for women to come out and sail and increase their skills. They can make mistakes, learn from those mistakes, there’s no yelling, there’s no stupid questions.”
The program has gotten a lot of attention from women who want to take charge after having experienced being a passenger or member of the crew of a boat skippered by someone else.
Once the program got underway, the challenge of racing the sleek sailboats was added. Last year they participated twice in the Ladies Harbor-20 fleet class, competing in the Thursday night Beer Can races, which feature a relaxing, fun nautical sailing night on a short course on the Newport Harbor.
Hoffner said the group has been preparing for this year’s races.
“We have been doing some races amongst ourselves,” Hoffner said. “For the Thursday night Beer Can Race series, the race committee will give a start and course for the H20 class on six Thursdays throughout the summer.”
Hoffner explained that while it’s a big commitment for the volunteer coaches, who all work full-time jobs, they love being there.
The popular program has 61 women from BYC who participate but don’t necessarily sign up each week.
“We have a limited amount of boats and a limited amount of coaches, which limits students each week,” explained Hoffner. “There are six club boats, with three per boat including a coach, so about 12 students each Monday, unless they own their boat.”
Hoffner added that some boats were damaged during the recent storms, which also affected the class size.
“If all boats are in working order, and there are seven coaches there and seven boats, then we can have 14 students.”
Pamela Kreiser and her sister, Linda Baber, both coaches in the program, grew up at BYC participating in its junior program.
“It has been a privilege to serve as a coach for SkipHers,” Kreiser said. “I think the most rewarding aspect of coaching is being able to see women achieve things they never thought they would be able to do.”
She noted that although the coaches originally focused more on the competencies of sailing, which they still do, the women of BYC have found a meaningful sense of community and connection with each other.
“But we have found that in addition to learning sailing skills, it’s that combination that has contributed so much to our growth,” Kreiser said.
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