When my husband suggested that we try out sailing, my initial reaction was, “Are you insane? I’ve never stepped foot on a sailboat in my life.”

That was quickly followed by, “That’s a rich man’s sport!”

You can’t blame me for thinking that sailing was not for me. Beyond the fact that I didn’t grow up sailing, nothing in the images I saw of sailing suggested this sport was welcoming to women.

## It Starts with Representation

I simply did not see many female sailors in anything from the RYA sailing book to magazines and shows. If I did manage to see a woman on a boat, generally, she was not behind the helm. Instead, she was a guest in a bikini or a wife along for the ride. She was there to soak up the sun and gentle breeze.

I am not the only one who’s noticed this; a [**strategic review by the world sailing trust**](https://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/WSTWiSStrategicReviewReport2019-%5b25819%5d.pdf "World Sailing Trust report") reports that 80% of women believe there is a gender gap in the sport of sailing. Unfortunately, for me, there weren’t any “role models.” Less than 25% of entrants into major sailing events were women in the last five years.

In all my time before becoming a sailor, I never saw this:

![Gaia sailing on Nomad I](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1643368967/sailties-blog/IMG_0140_may1pe.jpg "Gaia sailing on Nomad I")Getting more women into sailing starts with representation, and in my opinion, it was greatly lacking.

## Training Builds Your Foundation

A few weeks after I had rejected the idea of sailing, I found myself on a ship with [**Nomad Sailing**](https://www.nomadsailing.co.uk/ "Nomad Sailing School") for our Competent Crew course. This kind of structured training is not a mandatory step to get your Day Skipper, but I highly recommend it.

An equivalent course in the US would be your “Basic Keelboat Certification.” With International Yachting Training it is called “learning the ropes,” which is a pretty accurate description. You will learn boat terms, winds, how to get the boat moving, and the most common and essential sailing skill, tying knots!

![Gaia's voyages in Greece and Croatia](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1643368989/sailties-blog/A8BC10C2-24AF-4904-8617-949D315EA6EA_bqkfsv.jpg "Gaia's voyages in Greece and Croatia")Our teacher was Lou Barden, a woman. I cannot begin to express how relieved I was to have her as a teacher. I am sure that many other male teachers are just as good as Lou, but seeing Lou doing it all was the validation and reassurance I needed to know that I belonged there too.

Since then, I went on to do my Day Skipper (always with Nomad and Lou) and many other sailing trips around the Solent, in the Mediterranean, and lastly, four weeks of bliss, with just my husband and I, across [**Greece**](https://sailties.net/voyage/0C403DC1-7550-4F4B-80EB-4D396BCE8B3C "Gaia's voyage in Greece") and then [**Croatia**](https://sailties.net/voyage/79C5AF28-13CB-4B11-805B-8EE75EE9FF95 "Gaia's voyage in Croatia").

When there are only two people on board, that’s when you need to step it up. No one is there to tell you how you should do it, and your collective experience is all you can rely on. So you assess the situation, agree on what to do, and try to execute the best you can. This is when you start to get a feel for the boat, learn how she moves, the revs she likes, and how the wind moves through her sail. You get only it with time and experience.

![Gaia's voyages in Greece and Croatia](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1643369360/sailties-blog/voyages_xbfrqm.png "Gaia's voyages in Greece and Croatia")

### Track Your Progress (and Your Memories)

I started recording all of my sailing on SailTies. [**SailTies**](https://join.sailties.net/download "Download SailTies App") is a free, modern alternative to the paper logbook, which allows you to capture all of your sailing in one place. It made it easier to look back on my adventures and share them while crewing, chartering, and building my sailing qualifications. It’s easy to lose track of how far you’ve come as you develop as a sailor. 

Scrolling through my feed gives me a sense of achievement and nostalgia while, at the same time, getting me excited for my next adventure. [**You can see my profile here**](https://sailties.net/gaia "Gaia Riva on SailTies") and [**download SailTies for yourself here.**](https://join.sailties.net/download "Download SailTies app")

I can proudly say I have long lining nailed down, that I am not shabby at the helm, and that I am more often land-sick than sea-sick. But, on the other hand, marinas still scare me, I can’t do a rolling hitch to save my life, and I fear getting crossed anchors.

I guess what I am trying to say is that I may not be the best sailor out there, but I am doing it, and I love every minute of it. To all those girls, women, and people who identify as such, give sailing a go. It’s the experience of a lifetime.

![Sailing in Greece](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1643369044/sailties-blog/IMG_1208_ddyfcu.jpg "Sailing in Greece")

This blog post was [originally shared on the Dockwa Blog](https://blog.dockwa.com/womens-sailing-sail-ties "Dockwa Blog Post") on 30th May 2022.

One Woman's Path on Becoming a Sailor

Three years ago, Tom and I met working on a recipe sharing platform in Bristol, UK. We quickly discovered a shared passion for the ocean, in particular sailing, so we booked an RYA Day Skipper course together.

Fast forward to a typical March day on The Solent (🥶) and we were in our element, but it didn't take long to discover that two important things were missing:

1. Warmer gloves 🧤
2. A modern way to capture our experience 📖

**_![Chris on a cold Day Skipper course](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1653896541/sailties-blog/IMG_0013_k0vlnk.jpg "Chris on a cold Day Skipper course")_**

## Why is a modern way needed?

Like most sailors, we want to capture our time on the water for 3 main reasons:

1. Reliving our adventures when we're back on land
2. Sharing voyages with family and friends
3. Recording our overall sailing experience

To our surprise, there was no modern way to do this.

Sailors try to keep a paper logbook up to date, however those only provide very limited information about a trip, they are boring to share and longwinded to summarise (especially if you have more than one).

## Testing the existing options

After completing our course, we crewed for other sailors to build our miles.

We tried to record our voyages on GPS devices (marine, cycling and smart watches) and exercise tracking apps (including Strava), however nothing was suited to recording long passages or the collaborative nature of sailing. It was also very difficult to share data from the hardware.

The last straw came in Greece, our first charter holiday sailing around the Ionian Islands. All we had to show for it was an uninspiring entry in our log books 😢:

![Chris' log book entry from Greece](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1653894750/sailties-blog/LogBook_2_kuc9vf.png "Chris' log book entry from Greece")

We decided to fix these problems ourselves and started working on [SailTies](https://sailties.net "SailTies App") as soon as we arrived home in Bristol!

## SailTies product anchors ⚓️

Our overall goal is to create a product that solves real problems for fellow sailors, that they love to use and will therefore share with sailing friends. At the start of our journey we agreed on four aspects of the product we wouldn't compromise on. We call them our '4 anchors'.

(Disclaimer: This isn't named after how we moor up at sea)

### 1. Easy to capture everything in one place

SailTies makes it easy to capture all of the important elements of your sailing experience together. GPS track, stats, crew list, log commentary, photos - it's all on the voyage record with a beautiful map.

![Tracking and Voyage screens](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1653906652/sailties-blog/Capturing_gtm0ma.png "Tracking and Voyage screens")

### 2. Collaborative

More often than not, you will be sailing with crew. With SailTies only one person needs to record the voyage and they can tag the other crew to let them contribute photos and notes. Collaboration is not only more fun, but makes it much easier to capture a rich memory of the voyage.

![Collaborating on logs and photos with crew](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1653906900/sailties-blog/Collab_ed7zn3.png "Collaborating on logs and photos with crew")

### 3. Fun to share your experience

All sailing is an adventure and those miles are something to be proud of. On SailTies, your profile is automatically updated with key stats such as total miles logged and time at sea. 

There is image sharing to social media, a feed in the app and public links that can be sent to users without the app, to easily share your profile or a specific voyage. 

![Profile and Voyage share screens](https://res.cloudinary.com/sailties/image/upload/f_auto,q_70/v1653907061/sailties-blog/Share_wtnmmm.png "Profile and Voyage share screens")

### 4. No distractions from sailing

We want sailors to get value from SailTies when they are **off the water**.

Sailing for us is a time to connect with nature, develop a stronger respect for our oceans and have meaningful experiences with other people. So we have made it as simple as possible to capture on SailTies - one tap to start recording and then you can put it back in your pocket or even down below in a dry bag.

To leave the smallest possible footprint on your voyage, SailTies works offline (and offshore), uses accessible design practises, has low battery usage and is regularly tested at sea by real sailors.

Essentially - SailTies is built to be sea worthy.

## Try SailTies for free!

Ready to capture your next voyage, or want to explore the trips already recorded on SailTies?

SailTies is completely free and available to [download from the iOS App Store](https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/sailties-capture-your-sailing/id1507376381 "Download SailTies iOS App").

## What's next for SailTies?

We are laser focussed on creating the best possible way for sailors to capture their experience. Our immediate plans are:

* Build the Android app (we have just raised funding to do this). If you're an Android user, [sign up to hear when you can download SailTies](https://sailties.net/android "Join Android Waitlist").
* Introduce sailing groups and clubs to SailTies, so their members can share their sailing with each other. [Find out more about SailTies Groups](https://sailties.net/groups "SailTies Groups").

The SailTies Blog

One Woman's Path on Becoming a Sailor

Why we created SailTies, the Strava for Sailing