Women's Classes

Note: Currently Pacific Yachting is only conducting Woman Only Sailing courses for 2-3 students that have their own group.

Since 1979, Pacific Yachting and Sailing in Santa Cruz has introduced thousands of students and accomplished sailors to the excitement and pleasures of sailing on Monterey Bay and the Pacific ocean. Pacific Yachting & Sailing (PY&S) now offers women sailors the most extensive sailing program on the West Coast. View all course descriptions. All of Pacific Yachting and Sailing's instructional, as well as recreational, sailing programs are available as women-only events. Each boat is skippered by PY&S' female sailing instructors. Pacific Yachting & Sailing instructors are noted for their unsurpassed communication skills, patience and ability to connect on a personal level with every student. PY&S' female instructors are experienced sailors with thousands of ocean miles on their resumes, are comfortable sailing in any type of sailing environment, and practice the strictest safety procedures in a calm and patient manner. Best of all, their love, and enjoyment of sharing, sailing with others is unsurpassed.



Dear Marc: I completely enjoyed our Saturday/Sunday Basic Sailing class. Although I had been thinking about taking a sailing class for over a year, my decision to take the September 30th class was "spur-of-the-moment." I was not even aware that there were sailing classes "for women only."

Our "women-only" class was perfect for me. Having just 4 women on that sailboat (3 women were beginners) in 15-knott winds has really given me the confidence and inspiration to take more sailing classes.

Before taking your class, I had been the passenger on more than 20 fun sailing trips in the San Francisco Bay on our friend's racing sailboat, in mixed company, with other passengers of varying sailing experience (usually beginners). The women almost always hold back and don't push themselves forward to get the more challenging sailing tasks. Our 2 days of sailing with all women has given me a completely different view. I want to do the hard stuff now, and really want to take the tiller!

Thank you very much for the perfect sailing lesson.

Sincerely,
Joannie Montagne

Captain Sheila Hubbard has taught sailing for 5 years at PY&S. Sheila was involved in racing and cruising sailboats for 10 years on San Francisco Bay. In 1991, she and her partner of 22 years delivered a yacht from the South Pacific to the Mediterranean. In addition, Sheila has operated power yachts in The Bahamas and Florida, and has sailed in the Caribbean and the English Channel, as well as up and down the Pacific Coast. Sheila is a certified SCUBA divemaster.

Captain Tina Schwendeman comes to PY&S from Germany, by way of New Zealand and has sailed professionally for 7 years. She has sailed on charter and private yachts, both power and sail, in Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico, Mediterranean, and has delivered yachts across the Atlantic Ocean in both directions. In 1998, she delivered a yacht from Thailand to Europe, through the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Tina has been teaching at PY&S for 5 years and is a certified SCUBA diver.

The PY&S sailing school offers both American Sailing Association and U.S. Sailing certifications from basic sailing through advanced coastal cruising. Classes are held year round, weather permitting, as a series of 2-day weekends or intensive 6-day and 8-day liveaboard experience. Recreational sailing events include leisurely skippered charters, Wednesday night "beer-can" racing on the Bay at Santa Cruz, sailing vacations in Mexico, the Caribbean, Greece and the South Pacific. Pacific Yachting and Sailing represents the top international charter companies with fleets of sailboats in the most beautiful and exotic tropical locales throughout the world. PY&S creates personalized sailing vacations, complete with air travel, ground transfers, provisioning, itinerary, and special excursions, including SCUBA diving. Single berths, groups, and multi-boat flotillas can be arranged. Certified sailors may captain their own yacht, or travel in a flotilla guided by a PY&S skipper.

SUMMARY

Women who are interested in joining PY&S for any of the upcoming sailing events, or who want to arrange a custom sailing adventure may contact Pacific Yachting & Sailing at 831.423.7245 or 800.374.2626. The business is located in Santa Cruz at the Harbor, 790 Mariner Way, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. You may email us at info@PacificSail.com