1999 BoatUS/NWSA Leadership in Women's Sailing Award

Left to Right: Doris Colgate, Bernadette Bernon, Jim Ellis (BoatUS)

Bernadette Bernon Receives 1999 Leadership In Women's Sailing Award 

Bernadette Bernon, editorial director of Cruising World and Sailing World magazines, received the first Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award at Sail Expo in Atlantic City Jan. 22. The award, which will be given annually, is co-sponsored by the National Women’s Sailing Association and BoatUS, the nation’s largest organization of recreational boaters.

"The Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award is given to a person who has a record of achievement in inspiring, educating and enriching the lives of women through sailing," said Doris Colgate, president of the National Women’s Sailing Association, which conducts Take the Helm seminars for women across the country. "It’s the first award of its kind, and it could not have gone to a better recipient than Bernadette, whose enthusiasm and hard work have inspired thousands of women not only to get into sailing, but to keep on sailing and take the helm with confidence and skill."

Jim Ellis, executive vice president of BoatUS, was the co-presenter of the award. "There is no one who deserves this honor more," he said. "For the past 20 years, Bernadette has worked tirelessly to encourage women to experience the joys of cruising and sailing. Besides the fantastic job she did through the editorial pages of Cruising World magazine, Bernadette has been actively involved in many other efforts to enrich the lives of women through sailing."

Bernon is the founding director of the Cruising World Safety at Sea Institute which, with U.S. Sailing, has educated more than 15,000 sailors at their seminars. She created the Cruising World Adventure Charter project in 1988 to encourage people to charter in new and challenging areas around the world. She has been a member of the BoatUS National Advisory Council since 1992 and is also on the National Women’s Sailing Association board. In 1998, she co-chaired Sail Expo, and she has also served on the boards of Sail Newport and Sail America.

The selection committee for the Leadership in Sailing Award included Colgate; Elaine Dickinson, managing editor of BoatUS Magazine; Gail Hine, director of the Southern California Yachting Association’s Women’s Sailing Convention; and Becky Squires, director of public relations at BoatUS.