HISTORY OF THE SALTY SISTERS
of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club

Salty Sisters 75th Anniversary Video

In the fall of 1951, under the guidance of W.W. “Doc” Jennings, a group of 10 women, all of them wives of St. Petersburg Yacht Club (SPYC) members, formed what is now believed to be the first organized women’s sailing group in the nation, known as the Salty Sisters. The group’s objective was to learn the principles of sailing and to sail small boats in sessions each Wednesday afternoon after lunch at the Yacht Club. The original ten founding members were Eleanor Ellis, Betty Jennings, Dottie Lang, Joyce McEvoy,Mary Jane Misener, Margie Peterson, Joey Powell, Ruth Rifley, June Schowe and Phyllis Shaver.

Membership originally was limited to wives of members of SPYC. In 1956, this qualification was amended to include any female member of the yacht club age 21 or older.

At first, racing took place in 8-foot Hagerty Sea Shell prams, which were later replaced by Optimist-class Prams. As the women became more proficient, they sailed in the club-owned 22-foot gaffrigged Fish Class sloops, later replaced first by Rhodes 19 sloops and later replaced by Ideal 18s, both St. Petersburg Sailing Center boats. Throughout the years, the Salty Sisters have sailed Flying Juniors, O’Day Sprites, Flying Scots, Snipes, Sunfish, 420s, and Sonars. With the Sprites, spinnakers were first introduced, and they continue to be part of Salty sailing in all boats equipped with them. Over the years, sailing became a morning activity, followed by lunch at the Yacht Club. As many as 60 to 70 women have participated on the water, sometimes having to take turns in available boats.

In 1958, the Salty Sisters began sailing against other women’s sailing clubs from neighboring yacht clubs. These groups followed the Salty’s lead by organizing sailing groups within their own clubs with colorful nautical names. Soon there were the Tampa Yacht & CC “Mainsheet Mamas,” the Sarasota Sailing Squadron “Luffing Lassies,” the Clearwater YC “Windlasses,” the Davis Island YC “Dinghy Dames” and the Pass-a-Grille YC “Broad Reachers.” (Pass-a-Grille became part of SPYC in 2008, and a large number of Salty Sisters are also members of the Broad Reachers)

In 1964, a British Royal Navy vessel, HMS Berwick, came into port with a sailing team that promptly challenged the Salty Sisters to a three-race battle. It is said that this was a regular event with her Majesty’s vessels. The story goes that British sailors lived up to their reputation as gentlemen, letting the Salty Sisters remain undefeated. The same can’t be said of our own Junior Sailors, who beat the “old Ladies” handily in pram races during the two years of Hospice National Championship fundraising races in 2012-13.

In the fall of 1973, Fran Weaver and Ardith Rutland spearheaded the formation of the Women’s Interclub Council whose mission was “to promote women’s interclub racing in Florida.” This group would become the present Florida Women’s Sailing Association. Fran Weaver was the first President and Ardith Rutland was the second.

In addition to the continuation of the interclub regattas sailed several times a month, FWSA currently has two main sailing events per year – the Championship Regatta and the Rainbow Regatta – hosted by its member clubs. The Championship Regatta (originated in 1976) is held for one-design boats sailed with crew. The winner of which represented FWSA in U.S. Sailing’s Adams Cup, the U.S. women’s sailing championship, in the quarter finals. Our Salty teams have reached the finals three times, and were runners up in 1993, with Nancy Graham at the helm. The Adams Cup was retired in 2011.