St Augustine Sailing Sisters kicks-off sailing series Sunday, March 8

St Augustine Sailing Sisters will host their 4th Annual Spring “Foward” Sailboat Race this Sunday, March 8, 2020, starting at 1:00 pm on the Intracoastal Waterway north of the Vilano Beach Bridge. 

The Spring Foward Race (yes, it’s intentionally misspelled for a reason) was named such because it started on Daylight Savings weekend in 2016 as a way to get boats on the water and ready for St Augustine Race Week.  St Augustine Sailing Sisters strives to engage and empower women through sailboat racing.

“Our goal is to get women on the water while sharing our love of sailing and racing,” president Susan Lieberman told local Historic City News reporters.  “At the same time, we really want to raise money to make a difference in the lives of women locally who are looking to make a better life for themselves, to provide resources for them to excel, and to be empowered to do so.”

This race is the first of three St Augustine Sailing Sisters-sponsored sailing events that will be hosted this year.  Additionally, the Wendy Thomson Memorial Race will be held in May and the 5th Anniversary Bikini Race is scheduled for August.

The fundraising efforts of the 2019 Bikini Race, the organization’s signature event serving as a major fundraiser to give back to local women’s organizations, resulted in donations of $5,000 each to the Betty Griffin Center and Rethreaded, Inc., local organizations that provide counseling, support, and mentoring for women rebuilding their lives after surviving incidents of domestic violence or human trafficking.

A Skipper’s Meeting is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on race day at the St Augustine Yacht Club, located at 442 Ocean Vista Avenue on Anastasia Island, across from the St Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum.

Registration, sponsored by St Augustine Yacht Club, can be accomplished online.  This race is open to any vessel that meets the criteria as outlined in the Notice of Race Sail Instruction, found on the St Augustine Sailing Sisters website. Additional details are available by calling 904.377.2285 or sending an email to staugustinesailingsisters@gmail.com