I was glad to see Mary's post about women in sailing. I agree 100% that many of the new powerful spinnaker boats are not much fun for a female sailor. Heck, while I love sailing with the chute, there's the expense, upkeep, and extra rigging time involved.

My favorite boat is still my A-cat and I wonder why more women who would like to race have not looked at this option. Here is what I think are the pros and cons:

Pros

1. Super performance
2. Extremely fun to sail
3. Competitive with crew weight ranges from 145 lbs. to 200 lbs.
4. Extremely easy to rig, tune, and handle (165 lb. boat)
5. Super friendly class (there has not been one protest filed at any North American A-class regatta in 2002 to date)

Cons

1. Somewhat pricey for new boats but there is currently a very good selection of used competitive boats
2. Not as big or established as the Hobie and Performance fleets
3. Very high level of competition that could be discouraging initially (Melvin, Smyth, Ogeltree, Lovell, Hall, Struble, etc...)

The two most active female A-class sailors in the US are Pease Glaser (who is an Olympic Silver medalist and Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year) and Carla Schiefer (long time Tornado/P-19/Corsair crew and sailmaker). Pease is located in Newport Beach, CA at the Ullman Sails loft. Carla is in Cocoanut Grove,FL at Cocoanut Grove Sails. I think women who might be intrigued by this option should contact Carla or Pease and talk to them about their impressions of the boat and the class.

You can also visit the US A-class website at www.usaca.info.

Bob Hodges
A-Class USA 147