The Corinthian Women are proud to report that Mermaid has been broken in and can be sighted gliding gracefully over the waves during races and emergencies. She really shone during Opening Day on the Bay, ferrying members, guests and even San Francisco Yacht Club members and guests to the Indonesian tall ship, Dewaruci. Mermaid is our pride and joy.

We are really motivated to continue brisk sales at the club store so watch for store openings during Friday night races and the upcoming Master Mariners at our club.

Calling all eligible kids to sign up for the Junior Sailing Scholarship sponsored by The Corinthian Women. There are funds of up to $500 allocated for sailing classes at San Francisco Yacht Club, so sign up at the club. Check the front office or our club web page for details.

The Easter Brunch, organized by our Frances Dugdale of the Corinthian Women, was a sell-out with almost 200 adults, 50 children and 25 babies! As usual, the Easter Bunny (alias Paula Hansson) came to visit the Corinthian Yacht Club on Easter Sunday.

Everyone enjoyed the balloon sculptures and face painting provided by Cory Forman and friends, the great food and ice rabbit sculpture provided by our own Ian, and the delicious milkshakes and jokes from the colorful Mad Hatter (Adam). Barbara and Andre Klein were wonderful and kept taking photographs of the children with the bunny all through the event, with Bev and Frank Dunn dutifully gluing all the photos in cards.

The treasure hunts went successfully with John Bogue policing the ramp at the start of the older children's hunt. One noticeable change this year was in "hunter" demographics with a large number of under-sixes crammed into the bar for the first hunt. Even so, everyone managed to fill their bags with candy and toy-filled eggs.

Many thanks to the hard work of those who helped to attach all the 200 helium balloons that decorated the sail loft. Thank you, Frances Dugdale, for the editorial contribution to the newsletter.

The first weekend of May dawned bright and clear as 49 students and 26 skippers and instructors converged on the CYC clubhouse for the first session of the annual Women's Sailing Seminars, organized by The Corinthian Women. Boats for the event ranged from a Cal 20 (Gotcha, sailed by Jim Snow) to a Swan 38 (Truant, skippered by Laurie Bolard).

Alas, only the attitudes of the participants were to remain sunny throughout the two-day class. Throughout the morning on Saturday, while the participants received classroom instruction on sailing fundamentals - terminology, parts of the boat, basic maneuvers, sail trim, rules of the road, tides and currents, and safety - clouds rolled in and the day became increasingly gray. After lunch the group moved onto their assigned boats and went for their first sail. Some crews headed out under the Gate, some circumnavigated Angel Island, some reached over to the City Front, and some were even rewarded with the sight of whales in Raccoon Strait, but they all had one thing in common - they got wet! (Rain in May!?!)

The wind, although light, stayed consistent enough for a full afternoon of skill building. On our boat, Moonlight (loaned by Jim Gibbs), we even had time for a group meditation on the way home! After our crew had docked the boat by themselves, one woman remarked, "Wow, I didn't even realize it was raining." That's concentration!

On Sunday the weather deteriorated further - not only was it gray, but visibility was poor and there wasn't a breath of wind all morning. The class focused on reviewing the prior day's lessons, learned crew overboard drills, and - joined by the skippers and instructors - practiced bowlines, double half hitches, figure-eights, rolling hitches and line coiling. The bay was still glassy, so some crews went for Plan B (practicing docking) and some left with a promise to regroup the following Saturday for a make-up sail. Of course, the wind came up shortly thereafter, and those of us who were left went back out for a decidedly soggy afternoon of retrieving our 'crew overboard' dummies.

A few crews decided to sail their boats home and return by car for the highlight of the afternoon - Graduation! Although a few of the class weren't seen again that day, the majority of us rocked the CYC bar that evening in an effort to stay out of the rain.

Billy Brady, who sailed his Santana 22, Nirvana, all weekend, requested permission to become an honorary Corinthian Woman (all he has to do is wear a dress.). Michael Campbell, Geronimo's captain, was escorted all evening by a cadre of 'pink baseball cap' groupies. The students all received Certificates of Completion signed by their instructors, and each of the skippers was given a heartfelt thank you along with a gift from The Corinthian Women to further show our appreciation for their support of this one-of-a-kind program.

We have digital class photos for anyone who's interested - email me at tcwsail@aol.com and I'll send them along to you. When you see them you can tell by the smiles on everyone's faces that, despite the weird weather and rain, they all had a terrific weekend!