We interviewed Joan Bryne and Jocelyn Swanson on the red hot topic of the Annual Red Bra Regatta on San Francisco Bay. The largest all woman regatta on the West Coast.

First- an introduction to these two gals who came to sailing later in life.

Joani Bryne is certainly a Queen of the Sailing Circuit, but she does much more for women racing than just being out on the water racing. Joani’s mission is to empower women on the water and get them involved in racing at any level.
Behind the scenes for the South Beach YC Red Bra Regatta, Joani and her co-chair Winnie Kelley, put in countless hours to make this regatta a success. This is the 8th year running, with 20 boats out on the water, all female skippers and crew. The race was originally launched out of the competitive spirit of two very close friends and SBYC members, Nancy DeMauro and Libby Sheldon.
Joani is instrumental in encouraging other women to skipper, crew and participate, often connecting newbies with willing skippers – creating lasting bonds within the growing women’s sailing community.
Earlier this year she was on the ‘Women and Sailing Panel’ at the Pacific Boat Show, talking about “what women want” on the water. Sharing her experiences and reassuring women that it’s okay to want different outcomes out of boating and offering various ways to get involved. 
On Friday Night Series racing at SBYC she is recruiting and training women on her winning Olson 30, Heart of Gold. 
Joani takes the time to impart her knowledge, helping others grow and connecting them with other mentors, male and female, in the community. She is well known for her dockside entertainment after racing! People are drawn to her charismatic personality matched with a dangerously good Bloody Mary.
Joan Bryne was crowned 2019 Queen of the Sailing Circuit in November, nominated by South Beach Yacht Club, and chosen by the team at Lattitude 38.

“Joani has been instrumental in enhancing my racing experience and helping me build my network in the Bay Area sailing community. I often refer to her as my sailing Mom, she has challenged and encouraged both on and off the water.” – Collette Meyers 

Joani is the leading lady of of our year round racing at SBYC – she welcomes all new members as potential crew on Heart of Gold. Her passion for sharing the team experience is part and parcel of what SBYC stands for. It is an element of warmth that added to our ability to win 2019 Yacht Club of the Year from PICYA.” – Patti Mangan, South Beach YC Membership Officer.

Jocelyn Swanson started sailing back east on the Hudson River in her mid 40’s on a San Juan 25.5 then later a Laser 28 which was shipped out to Pete’s Harbor in Redwood City when her family moved to California in late 1994. The Laser 28 wasn’t a good boat for her on the choppy waters of the SF Bay. Eventually they bought an Islander 36. This is the boat that really got Jocelyn into sailing and she has had it for 16 years. Initially, the year before buying Zingara, she raced every Wednesday night at the Coyote Point YC spring/summer series. It took her two-thirds of the season to get off a boat saying she had a great time. Eventually, Jocelyn was racing the islander more than her husband.   

Jocelyn’s racing has included a number of SF Bay races–mid-winter Corinthians, Great Vallejo Race, 3 Bridge Fiasco, YRA races, Interclub series, Coyote Point YC Regattas, one-design I-36 series and of course, all of the Red Bra Regattas since the beginning. Sailing is Jocelyn’s outward bound adventure and she has a passion for supporting women in sailing.

Enjoy listing to the show and learning more about the largest all women race on the west coast in the link below.

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Sail Sport Talk with Karen Lile is aired inside the Rick Tittle Show every Tuesday morning at 9:37 hours, San Francisco time, sometimes beginning earlier with additional interviews. Rebroadcast happens 6 hours later and a Podcast is added on iHeart radio a week after the show. There are over 700 radio stations that carry the show as part of their programming. But, for those mobile devices or on the internet in Europe, Tune In Radio carries the live broadcast under the Sports Byline USA channel. Or you can just listen to by clicking on live streaming on the http://www.sportsbyline.com website. Tune in to Sail Sport Talk with Karen Lile during live experience.