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CAROLINA SAILINGLadies…Start YourEnginesTerry Hamilton steering David O’Reilly’s Melges 24PBR Street Gang. Photo by Priscilla Parker.No matter how you look at it, sailing in the UnitedStates is primarily a man’s sport. Now before anyonegets argumentative, that statement is bolsteredby statistics. On average, more than 80 percent of the activesailors in this country are men (according to several existingsurveys and studies). If you doubt that figure, there areother statistics as well. Consider the number of men versusthe number of women on US SAILING’s board of directors(13:3). Or take a look at the pages of Nick Hayes’ groundbreakingbook from 2009 Saving Sailing. Hayes writes,“The ratio of men to women (in the sport) is seven toCharleston Sailing School“Learn to Sail with Confidence”Sailing LessonsBareboat & Skippered ChartersPowerboat RentalsYacht DeliveriesCharleston City Marina • 17 Lockwood Dr.843-364-4123www.charlestonsailingschool.comone...A crucial fact: key groups that might sustain theactivity—kids under 13, women, and early parents—areessentially not sailing at all.” And in my own home watersof Charleston, SC, a further indication is the fact that morethan half of the yacht clubs don’t offer full membership towomen. None of this means that women aren’t interested,or that many aren’t already sailing. But the 2010 censustells us that there are more women in the United Statesthan men, so it does mean that the sport could benefit fromencouraging more women to sail.At the national level, several organizations do just that.Since 1984, Womanship has been introducing women of allages to sailing in a friendly, inclusive way. In 1990, DorisColgate established the National Women’s SailingAssociation to provide opportunities for women to learnand enhance their sailing skills, have fun and meet others atthe same time. On a regional level, southern California ishome to a group that calls itself Women’s Ocean RacingSailing Association, which exists to encourage “the participationof women in the sport of sailing.” But in SouthCarolina, there don’t appear to be any active women’sorganizations dedicated to sailing, unless you count theyacht clubs’ ladies auxiliary groups.Given this context, it’s encouraging to know that thereare a couple of events in the Palmetto State that caterexpressly to women sailors. Each May, the CharlestonOcean Racing Association (CORA) stages its Femme Fatale,a one-day, one-race affair in which each boat entered musthave a woman at the helm. This event has grown in popularitysince it was founded in 1993. Just ask Lacy Terwilliger,who’s not only a veteran skipper in the Femme Fatale, butalso the current vice commodore of CORA.Terwilliger, who along with her husband Don, lives andraces aboard the couple’s Beneteau 47.7, says that the objectiveof this event is generally to get more women sailing,and specifically to get more of them on the helm. “It’s definitelycompetitive – about as competitive as any other eventthat CORA puts on, but we purposely keep it fun as well.”Terwilliger notes that the Femme Fatale has been asuccessful promotional mechanism for CORA. “It’s actuallyone of the top two recruitment events we have.” In addition,she says, the organization stages another women-skippersonlyrace in the fall, the Witches Brew in late October.Meanwhile, Lake Hartwell in the upstate is home to a40 September 2011 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com