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The WSA is very active in many race events, in the Santa Monica Bay, and
around the country. Listed here are some tips for people interested in joining a
crew, learning how to race, or how find others in the community.

Resources to Learn More About Sailboat Racing

Clinics and Classes: The WSA sponsors several race clinics each year, as does the South
Bay Yacht Racing Club (SBYRC), the California Yacht Club (CYC) and the Association of Santa
Monica Bay Yacht Clubs (ASMBYC). Keep an eye out for these clinics, as they are usually not
over-subscribed and you can take your time to ask questions.

UCLA's Marina Aquatic Center (310 823 0048) holds both sailing and occasionally racing classes,
however you'll need to have a sailing test and checkout by a staff member in order to use their
sailboats.

Websites:

"Racing Basics" website: http://www.uiowa.edu/%7Esail/skills/racing_basics/index1.shtml

Information on the local race scene: www.yrrc.com (Yacht Racers Resource Center)

Racing Rules of Sailing, 2-page summary: http://www.ussailing.org/rules/RulesInBrief.htm

For a full copy of the rules: http://www.ussailing.org/

On-line Rules Quiz: http://ukhalsey.com/RulesQuiz/index.asp

Marine Signal Flags as they relate to Racing: http://www.yachtracersonline.com/racingflags.htm

Events Geared Toward Women In Sailing

The women's sailing convention: (hosted by the SCYA) Held in Long Beach every year in
February. This multi-day event has a number of speakers and hands-on activities, all taught by
women sailors. Topics include items of interest for both racers and cruisers.

The Women on the Water/Women at the Helm regatta: Held annually in Santa Monica
Bay in July, and sponsored by the ASMBYC. This is a two day regatta with two divisions: the
Women on the Water division is comprised of an all-female crew, and the Women at the Helm
division is a coed crew with a female skipper.

The Linda Elias Memorial Women's One Design Regatta: Held annually in Long
Beach in October and is jointly sponsored by the Long Beach YC and the LB WSA. The event is
held in LBYC's fleet of matched Catalina 37's, with each crew comprised of 10-11 women. Teams
come from as far away as Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to compete.

Tips to Become Crew On A Local Race Boat

Yacht Racing is a very popular sport in Santa Monica Bay. There is a yacht race nearly every
weekend. This is a team sport and most teams are five to nine people. The biggest problem Yacht
Racers face is finding reliable people to join their teams. It's hard to believe that every weekend
thousand of people watch these beautiful sailboats leave the harbor and haven't a clue how to get
on one. Tip: It's easier than you think!

Check the WSA Race calendar for Race Clinics as an excellent opportunity to learn more about
racing and meet skippers and other crew that are into racing.

Check the ASMBYC Race Calendar: Go to http://www.asmbyc.scyaweb.org and look at the top of
the page for the link to the current race calendar. You can usually check out the sponsoring yacht
clubs to see what boats show up for races and who skippers those boats.

Check out the pre-race seminars for the Sunset Series sponsored by California Yacht Club: These
are usually in early April, check CYC's web site: Follow the links to "Seminars". They will have a
skippers list and crew list for interested parties.

Some have caught a ride on Wednesday nights by hanging out at Cal Yacht Club at around 4pm
where skippers drop in to turn in their entries.

Check out Yacht Racer's Resource Center: www.yrrc.com

Check out Steady Crew Website: www.steadycrew.com

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