Sailing Excellence
Competitive accomplishments
Over the years, Salty Sisters sailors have enjoyed remarkable competitive success, winning a significant share of regattas and continuing the club’s long tradition of excellence in women’s sailing.
Salty Sisters teams also achieved notable success in the Championship Regatta, advancing to the national finals three times. Their best finish came in 1993, when a team led by Nancy Graham at the helm earned runner-up honors.
Although the Adams Cup was retired in 2011, its legacy remains an important chapter in women’s competitive sailing and in the proud history of the Salty Sisters.
Racing Beyond the Bay
Salty excellence goes global
Salty Sisters have long played important leadership roles both on and off the water, contributing not only as accomplished sailors but also as respected race officials, organizers, and club leaders.
Throughout the years, Salty Sisters have served as race organizers, committee chairs, members of the club’s executive committee, and members of the SPYC Board of Directors. Reflecting the organization’s longstanding importance within the Yacht Club, the Salty Sister Captain holds a permanent seat on the SPYC Executive Committee.
Over the years, the Salty Sisters have remained deeply committed to encouraging and mentoring the next generation of sailors, especially young women discovering the sport for the first time.
Early on, the organization sponsored a Mariner Girl Scout troop, helping introduce young girls to sailing and seamanship.
One member of that troop, Sandy Ripberger, later became a Salty Sister herself and served as Captain of the organization in 2012 - a meaningful reflection of the club’s enduring influence across generations.
In 1996, Salty Sister Pat Seidenspinner made sailing history by becoming the first woman to serve as Principal Race Officer at the 1996 Summer Olympics. A large contingent of Salty Sisters and Briny Brothers joined her in Savannah, Georgia, where they helped conduct the Olympic sailing events.
Seidenspinner’s achievements include another series of pioneering milestones: she became the first female Principal Race Officer for the Southern Ocean Racing Conference and the first woman appointed as an International Race Officer by the International Sailing Federation, now known as World Sailing.
In 2000, she also became the first - and, to date, only - woman to serve as Commodore of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club.
Other Salty Sisters have followed similar paths of leadership and service within the sailing community.
- Carol Bardes served as a national race officer and became the first recipient of the Pat Seidenspinner Award for Leadership in Women’s Sailing.
- Barbara Farquhar served for many years as an international judge. She and her husband Thomas were honored with Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy from US Sailing for their outstanding contributions to the sport.
In 2000, the Salty Sisters established the Allison Jolly Regatta, a sailing event for girls ages eight to eighteen, named in honor of Olympic gold medalist Allison Jolly. Jolly and her crew Lynn Jewell made history by winning the first Olympic gold medal awarded in women’s sailing, competing in the 470 class at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea.
In 2012, Salty Sister Jennifer French earned a silver medal in the 2012 Summer Paralympics, competing in the SKUD class with crew member J.P. Creignou, a Briny Brother.
French, a quadriplegic, and Creignou, who is legally blind, formed an extraordinary and inspiring sailing partnership that achieved success at the highest levels of international competition.
Together, they won gold at the US Sailing Disabled Sailing Championship in 2009 and captured silver at the IFDS World Championships in 2011. In recognition of her remarkable accomplishments and contributions to the sport, Jennifer French was named Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year in 2012.
Many Salty Sisters are accomplished sailors in their own right, competing successfully in a wide range of classes including Lightnings, Thistles, Flying Scots, J-22s, J-24s, Sonars, Snipes, SKUDs, and many others. Members regularly participate in regional, national, and international regattas at every level of competition. Their spouses - affectionately known as the “Briny Brothers” - are often, though not always, part of the crew.
Salty Sisters sailors have represented the club in some of the sport’s most respected events.
- In 2010, Sherry Welch and Susan Wallace competed in the Snipe Women’s World Championship.
- Sherry also finished strong in the Snipe Masters Worlds and the Snipe Women’s Nationals over multiple years.
Team racing has also been an area of distinction for our organization.
- In 2009, a team of twelve club members competed in the prestigious Hinman Masters Team Racing Championship in Newport, Rhode Island.
- The following year, members participated in the inaugural Hinman Grand Masters Team Racing Championship, where eight of the twelve competitors were Salty Sisters, including two of the event’s racing skippers — a testament to the club’s depth of talent and competitive spirit.
Salty Sisters Help Inspire a New Championship
In 2010, members of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club helped make sailing history by participating in the inaugural Hinman Grand Masters Team Racing Regatta at the New York Yacht Club in Newport, Rhode Island. Created for sailors age 60 and older, the event recognized the growing number of experienced sailors who wished to continue competing in high-level team racing.
The idea for the regatta was inspired in part by conversations with SPYC sailors following the 2009 Hinman Masters Regatta, where their enthusiasm and determination impressed organizers. Fourteen SPYC sailors traveled to Newport for the inaugural competition, including Salty Sisters Helen Larsen and Kathy Bush, the only female skippers in the event. Pictured are the Salty Sisters who represented SPYC: Kathy Ahern, Char Doyle, Helen Larsen, Janet Walker, Shirley Rigo, Trisha Birkenstock, Linda Meehan, and Kathy Bush.
And the story continues...
Hinman Grand Masters Team Racing Regatta continues today as one of the New York Yacht Club's premier team racing events. In 2025, NYYC even introduced a Great Grandmasters Team Race for sailors 70+, showing how successful the original Grandmasters concept became
Through decades of regattas and social gatherings, our community has flourished. From the early wooden pram races to modern club championships, every event has been an opportunity to strengthen the sisterhood. These milestones aren't just dates on a calendar;
they are the shared memories of women who found their strength on the water and their home in our club.