Yacht club puts women at the helm Female sailors on Great Salt Lake relish the challenge of the sport By Brandon Griggs The Salt Lake Tribune 2 may 2005 Pack a Lunch captain Diana Goodell, left, and crew member Dixie Casasola wave to another boat as the two pass. Women were tacking their way across the Great Salt Lake on Sunday in whitecapping waters during the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club's women's sailing weekend. (Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune) GREAT SALT LAKE - Late Sunday morning, under clear skies and against a steady breeze, about two dozen sailors piled into eight boats and ventured onto this briny inland sea. This wouldn't be unusual but for one fact: Except for a few volunteer captains, all the sailors were women. The occasion was the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club's annual "Ladies Weekend," a two-day clinic designed to teach women to sail in a safe, nurturing atmosphere - that is, without their husbands or boyfriends barking orders and hogging the helm. "It's a great opportunity for women to learn in a supportive environment without getting yelled at," explained event leader Diana Goodell, who runs the yacht club's women's programs. "Men tend to dominate the sport." True, although female sailors have come a long way since the 19th century, when a woman aboard a ship was thought to bring bad luck. Ten years ago, a women's team competed for the first time in the world's most prestigious race, the America's Cup. And in February, Englishwoman Ellen MacArthur set a record for an around-the-world solo voyage. Male captains vastly outnumber female ones at the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club, which was founded in 1877 and whose slogan is, "Home of the World's Saltiest Sailors." But Goodell and her daughter, Cory Weir, are trying to change that. The pair have been sailing together for two decades and have trained at least several of the lake's women skippers. They also must work to overcome the lake's bad public image. With its murky water and occasional stench, the Great Salt Lake is a unique, if not downright bizarre, sailing locale. Boaters here battle brine flies, salty spray and treacherous shallows caused by years of drought. Yet Goodell and other women sailors rhapsodize about the lake's tranquility - motorboats are rare - and natural splendor, especially at sunset. "Some of [the 'Ladies Weekend'] is purely about the pleasure of the lake," Weir said. "People think it's stinky, but it's not. It's beautiful out here." A light breeze blew from the north Sunday as Goodell motored her 30-foot sailboat, Pack A Lunch, out of the marina west of Saltair on the lake's south shore. Aboard were Weir and two students: Dixie Casasola, a young Salt Lake City technical writer, and Sandra Mountcastle, a retired nurse. Other students followed with instructors on other boats. Some, like Casasola, had only sailed once or twice before. Others, like Mountcastle, a Utah newcomer who is familiarizing herself with the Great Salt Lake after years of sailing in Florida, were veteran sailors. In sailing, as in any group effort, teamwork is key. Goodell led her crew through the process of raising the mainsail, followed by the raising of the foresail, or jib. The sails snapped tight as the wind caught them, pushing the boat forward and causing it to heel to one side. For the next two hours crew members practiced jibing and tacking back and forth across the wind, cranking winches to tighten the sails. Despite a reputation as a leisurely pastime, sailing is not a passive sport - and that, disciples say, is what makes it fun. "You don't just press a button, turn on the motor and open a beer," said another student, Sue Lister. "You have to learn how to work the sails, how to read the wind. There's a science to it." By 2 p.m., the wind was gusting to 12 knots - about 14 mph - and whitecaps appeared on the lake's brownish swells. Wispy clouds drifted overhead across a pale blue sky. Lesson over, instructors and students steered their boats back into the marina, where they packed away the sails and opened some beers. Afterwards, students raved about the experience. "I had so much fun," said student Leslie Smith of Salt Lake City, who is learning the sport in the hope that she and her boyfriend will someday sail around the world together. "I like how everything you do changes the direction and the speed of the boat. You understand the wind and how to harness it." Teresa Sowles had a less lofty reason for taking the weekend clinic. Sowles, her sister Sue Lister, and their friends Michelle Cloud and Janet Robbins wanted to try out B' Jammin', the 25-foot sailboat they bought for $2,500 in March. After some practice, the four women plan to race the boat as a team this summer. "We mostly want to beat the men," said Sowles, whose husband sometimes sails with his buddies on the lake. She laughed, but she wasn't kidding. griggs@sltrib.com For more information on the Great Salt Lake Yacht Club or its women's programs, visit http://www.gslyc.org.