The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) and the El Salvadorean Sailing Federation (La Federacion El Salvadoreña de Vela (FESAVELA)) held the first-ever match racing clinic in Central America.

Sixteen sailors from El Salvador participated in the three day clinic taught by WIMRA Executive Director, Liz Baylis, on Lake Ilopango (outside of San Salvador) in FESAVELA’s small fleet of J/24s. Baylis put the participants through their paces with 3 full days of lectures, training, drills, and races. The sailors enthusiastically practiced their newly-learned skills on the water and continued discussing the tactical situations into the evenings. More training and racing is being planned over the next few months with the plan to include sailors from neighboring countries including Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, in the program.

FESAVELA will be sending a women’s team, selected from participants in the clinic, to the first Ibero-American Women’s Match Racing Championship in Valle de Bravo, Mexico in March. There they will test their skills against teams from Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States.

About WIMRA
The Women’s International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) was formed in 1996 to promote women’s international match-race sailing and advocate for the inclusion of a Women’s Match Racing Event in the Olympic Games. Having achieved the inclusion of Women’s Match Racing in the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, WIMRA continues to work to promote women’s match racing around the world through education and advocacy. The WIMRA web site: www.wimra.org

About FESAVELA
The Salvadorean Sailing Federation (FESAVELA) is an organization recognized by the National Institute of Sports of El Salvador (INDES) and Olympic Committee of El Salvador (COES) to represent the sport of sailing nationally It is internationally recognized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Five years ago, they began to develop and implement projects to grow the sport. The FESAVELA web site: fesavela.blogspot.com