Fortune Abor
Fortune Abor is a sailing instructor at the Orange Coast College Sailing
Center, where she teaches students the fundamentals of sailing and
seamanship. With a strong commitment to safety and skill development,
Fortune creates an engaging and supportive environment for sailors of all
levels.
She holds US Sailing Instructor Certification and is passionate about
sharing her love for the water. Recently, Fortune completed the Baja Ha-
Ha, a renowned cruising rally from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, which
deepened her experience in offshore sailing and adventure cruising.
Fortune's teaching style emphasizes confidence, hands-on learning, and
fostering a lifelong appreciation for sailing. Whether guiding beginners or
helping experienced sailors refine their technique, she brings enthusiasm
and real-world knowledge to every class.
Allison Bell
A third-generation sailor and a fixture in the Southern California boating
and racing community. She currently serves as Commodore of the San
Diego Yacht Club and Commodore of the Transpacific Yacht Club. In
2025 she made history as the first female skipper to win the Transpacific
Yacht Race (Los Angeles to Honolulu) overall, aboard the Cal 40
Restless. Professionally, Alli is an independent consultant specializing in
strategic planning, project management, facilitation, and research &
evaluation. Previously, she served as Vice President of Policy Research at
the Campaign for College Opportunity, Director at HCM Strategists, and
associate research scientist at the National Center for Education Statistics.
Alli earned her bachelor's degree from Stanford University, and her
master's in education and Ph.D. in higher education from the University
of Michigan.
Colleen Clay
Captain Colleen Clay is a USCG 100GRT Master, and a US Sailing Safe
Powerboat, Powerboat Cruising, Night Ops, and sail instructor with
Orange Coast College. Colleen is also an American Sailing certified
sailing instructor and teaches USCG credential classes. She created the
Sailing into Science program in 2000 to promote maritime youth
education and opportunity. Colleen served as the National Director of
Emergency Management for AmeriCorps, was a national leader in
disaster response and recovery, and served as a local politician in the
Washington, DC area before returning to Southern California in 2016. She
is currently cruising Mexico with her wife Chance and dog Violeta.
Wendy Corzine
Wendy Corzine is a US Sailing Certified Regional Race Officer who has been involved with regatta management for 10 years. She has experience as a race officer and as a competitor with match racing, fleet racing, PHRF racing and distance racing. She has taught beginning race management courses, as well as trained people on the water for race management. She currently serves on the Flag at Long Beach Yacht Club.
Suzy Curry
Suzy Curry has been getting people "knotty" in the best way for more than twenty years. A long-time Girl Scout climbing instructor, she's taught countless adventurers how to tie knots, stay safe, and feel fearless-whether they're on a rock wall or dangling from a rope for the very first time. These days, Suzy brings that same fun, confidence-boosting energy to the water. As an active instructor with the Women's Sailing Association (WSA), King Harbor's Women's Boating Fleet, and multiple youth sailing programs, she mixes technical know-how with an easygoing, encouraging style that helps sailors of all ages feel right at home on deck. A certified trainer and natural cheerleader for learning, Suzy loves turning "I'm not sure I can do this" into "Hey, look what I just did!" Whether teaching a bowline, a belay, or anything in between, she inspires students to master the ropes!literally! and discover the joy of adventure along the way.
Debby Grimm
Debby Grimm began her sailing career at Girl Scout camp, eventually progressing to high-level competitive racing. She frequently skippers her family's J/30, Hot Chocolate, competing in the Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship, the U.S. Women's Championship (Match Racing), and J/30 North Americans. Her regional honors include being a six-time GYA Women's PHRF Champion and multiple-time winner of the Coco Seemann, Race for the Roses, and Women's Trilogy events. For her performance on the water, she was named Female Sailor of the Year at New Orleans Yacht Club (2001) and Southern Yacht Club's Outstanding Woman Sailor (2012).
Professionally, Dr. Grimm is a research scientist at Tulane University's Coordinated Instrumentation Facility. She is a founding member and former Commodore of the Lake Pontchartrain Women's Sailing Association and remains a passionate supporter of women's sailing. Locally, she volunteers her time and her boat to mentor new sailors and get more women out on the water. She resides in New Orleans with her husband, Casey, and their daughter, Kaylor.
Debbie Huntsman
Debbie Huntsman has three plus decades of inland, coastal, and international cruising and racing experience along the North American West coast, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean. She has sailed desert lakes in the Southwest, Lake Pontchartrain near the Gulf, and has cruised the Bahamas, Caribbean, and South Pacific. She recently relocated to the Atlantic coast where she has plans to learn about the Potomac, Chesapeake, and the Atlantic.
She retired from the Coast Guard Auxiliary with an AUXOP certification encompassing speciality qualifications in Search and Rescue, Communications, Seamanship, Navigation, Weather, Instruction, and how to do proper government paperwork. She qualified as a USCG AUX small boat coxswain. She was a volunteer delivering public boating safety education for the 8th Coast Guard District, States of Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Louisiana. She is currently a small boat and keel boat instructor and a Safety at Sea moderator for US Sailing where she also serves on the Author B Hanson Rescue Award committee. She holds a US Coast Guard Master's license.
Debbi Juster
Dr. Debbi Juster learned to sail as a child at Mother's Beach in Marina del Rey, and she is still going strong today. She jumps at any chance to sail locally or across the globe and has become a trusted presence on board. Professionally, she is trained as a general internist, and has worked in emergency rooms and urgent cares, as well as served on many medical missions abroad. Drawing on her medical training, she has often assisted fellow sailors with injuries or medical emergencies, though she'll happily tell you, she prefers the role of First Mate. She is known for blending a heavy dose of humor as she talks on practical aspects of medicine at sea, including treating common medical problems, handling medical emergencies, and prevention.
Barbara Lawler
Barbara Lawler began sailing Sabots as a child before cruising the Caribbean aboard a Peterson 44 in the 80s. During that time, she earned her 100-ton license and delivered boats throughout the Caribbean and up the East Coast. In the 1990s, she cruised Southeast Asia, navigating from Singapore to Langkawi, Bali, and Australia. She next took up racing Schock 35s in Marina del Rey, as well as performing some deliveries. In 2001, she raced her first Transpac on an Olson 40. From 2007 to 2010, Barbara completed a global circumnavigation with the man of her dreams on their own boat. A veteran of six Transpacs, she now races her Harbor 20 in Newport Beach.
Margaret Pommert
Margaret Pommert is V.P. for Safety at Sea for The Sailing Foundation, which developed the Lifesling. She chairs the Hanson Rescue Medal, a national award which recognizes lifesaving at sea. Margaret has gathered lessons learned from hundreds of boaters directly involved in man-overboard incidents. She has partnered in overboard research with leading boating organizations, and her expertise is featured in a variety of publications. Margaret’s credentials include: Master Instructor for both Sail and Power, Vessel Emergency Drill Instructor, Boat Rental Safety for Charter Companies, Life Jacket Wear Rate Observational Study team leader, Lifesling Master Instructor, USCG 100-ton Master. Details: https://seattleonthewater.com/
Karen Prioleau
Karen Prioleau holds a 100GT US Coast Guard captain's license, and has led many offshore voyages on a variety of vessels with co-ed and all-female crews through the Pacific Ocean, including Alaska, Hawaii, French Polynesia, New Zealand, and Easter Island, as well as through Panama and the Caribbean. She is a Master Instructor Trainer for US Sailing and US Powerboating, and has served on the US Sailing National Faculty for many years helping develop navigation and sail training materials.
In 2005, she organized tests of crew overboard rescue techniques on San Francisco Bay with nearly 400 live rescues. In 2025, she was awarded the 'Timothea Larr Award' by US Sailing for her outstanding contribution to maritime education. She was also part of a National Maritime Training Standards committee, and has hosted and presented at multiple 'Safety at Sea' seminars.
Karen also maintains close ties with several US maritime academies and marine industry professionals. Certs include STCW Basic Training Instructor, Fishing Drill Instructor, Red Cross Instructor, ECDIS, USCG Train the Trainer, Master instructor Trainer for US Sailing/US Powerboating.
Wendy Sarnoff
Wendy Sarnoff is a USCG 100-ton Merchant Mariner Master with Sailing and Towing endorsements, as well as a USCG Train-the-Trainer designation. An ASA and AB Senior Master Instructor, she currently serves as a Tall Ship Captain for LAMI aboard the Exy and Irving Johnson. Her instructional expertise extends to the University of Southern California (USC), where she teaches Navigation and the Nautical Sciences curriculum. Wendy teaches USCG approved courses which include the USCG OUPV - Limited License and Sailing Endorsement ourses. She is owner of CSMMA (California Sailing Merchant Mariner Academy).
Her USCG approved (in person) OUPV, 100 ton, 12 hour Sailing Endorsement and Towing Endorsements will be available in Fall 2026.
For the past four years, Wendy has co-moderated US Sailing Safety-at-Sea seminars and is a frequent speaker at maritime organizations, including AYC, Del Rey YC, SMWYC, and the WSA of Marina del Rey and Long Beach. Her racing resume includes the 2019 Transpac and return, the Santa Barbara to King Harbor (SBKH), Newport to Ensenada (N2E), the Islands Race, and the California Coastal 300.
Beyond her work as a charter and delivery captain, Wendy is a writer and advocate for women on the water. As she shares in her prose: "Tack and Clew and She make three. All of them sail the seas, in glee. Â With welcoming hands, tall ships, she commands, knowing women and girls are gems; ocean pearls. Our speaking, our knowledge, our skills set us free!" Love, Tack and Clew the Catalina Mongoose Sisters (in memory of Tiller).
Capt. Holly Scott
Capt. Holly Scott is a veteran maritime professional and a frequent presenter at nearly every Women's Sailing Convention. She holds a USCG 100-ton Master's license and is the founder of Mahalo Sailing, a travel business specializing in curated sailing adventures.
In addition to her work as a captain and business owner, Holly brings a deep technical background to the water as the former owner of a yacht repair business. She has a lifelong passion for vessel restoration and currently manages a personal fleet of vintage boats. Combining her technical expertise with her love for the sea, Holly remains a dedicated mentor to the sailing community.
Maureen Vild
Maureen Vild is an accomplished sailor and boater with over 50 years of
experience. She achieved a USCG Master Captain's License and
instruction certification with US Sailing and Powerboating, ASA,
NauticEd, and is an instructor at Orange Coast College School of Sailing
& Seamanship. She has instructed and coached women the last three
years of the Sailing Convention for Women, by Gail Hine.
Maureen is a charter yacht captain and has led destination charters in the
British Virgin Islands, the Sea of Cortez, Greece, and along the Southern
California coast. Maureen is passionate about empowering women on the
water and is known for her calm, hands-on teaching style. Her goal is
simple: to help skippers develop the skills, knowledge, and mindset to
take the helm with competence and confidence.
Kimberly Walther
Captain Kim Walther has been teaching sailing for over 30 years. She is an American Sailing instructor at St. Augustine Sailing in Northeast Florida. She trains students on everything from small keelboats to large catamarans and sloops. Her passion for the ocean and sailing comes through in her writing on her lifestyle blog "Deep Water Happy" where she shares tips on everything from sailing to travel to healthy living. She has a self-proclaimed obsession with the outdoors and has sailed the east coast from Maine to the Caribbean. If she is not racing with the St. Augustine Yacht Club, she is teaching ASA sailing courses, diving, running, or cycling.
Captain Kim Walther, holds a 100-ton near coastal (offshore) USCG master's license with sailing and towing endorsements. Having taught over 3,000 students, she attributes her mastery to diverse experiences and continual skill refinement. Recognized as an ASA instructor of 101, 103, 104, 105, 114, 116, and 118 and honored ASA Instructor of the Year, Kim has refined her expertise through an impressive accumulation of over 30,000 hours teaching sailing.
Kim's passion for sailing extends to classes, charters, deliveries, and races (both inland and offshore). Kim has experience operating various vessels, including, currently, 21'6" Hunter sloops as well as Jeanneau 349 sloops, Jeanneau 41? and 44? sloops, a Lagoon 44 catamaran, and even a 49-passenger pontoon boat with twin 200 hp engines. Kim teaches sailing during the summer at the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Maine, and hosts international webinars covering sailing skills several times a year through American Sailing. Kim joined the NWSA board in August 2025.