Cory Sertl, a world-class sailor and youth coach, was presented with the Leadership in Women’s Sailing Award for 2005 for her outstanding contributions to the sport. Sponsored by the Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatU.S.) and the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA), the award honors a male or female who has leveraged their name, skills, or position in the sailing world to reach out and enrich women’s lives through sailing.

“Not only has Cory Sertl competed and won at the highest levels of the sport, she’s donated countless hours and travel time to represent the U.S. in the world sailing forum,” said Elaine Dickinson of BoatU.S., who presented the award in December. “She’s not just a role model, but an instructor and mentor to many young women interested in sailing.”

Among Sertl’s many accomplishments:

• Member of US SAILING’s delegation to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF)
• Coaches high school sailing at Rochester Yacht Club, Rochester, NY
• Skipper of the team that won the 2004 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship.
• Two-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, a former Olympian, and a winner of the Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship.
• Winner with Jody Swanson of the Women’s Open Doublehanded Championship in 1990 and the U.S. Women’s Championship for the Adams Cup in 1992.
• Served on US SAILING’s Women’s Sailing Committee

Cory Sertl joins a distinguished list of past awardees who have also contributed in unique ways including Bernadette Bernon, Betsy Alison, Gail Hine, Dawn Riley and Doris Colgate.

BoatU.S. – with 630,000 members – sponsors and promotes numerous boating opportunities for women, including the BoatU.S. Santa Maria Cup, the annual Women’s Sailing Convention in Southern California, Women’s Sailing Conference in Marblehead, MA, and “Ladies, Let’s Go Fishing!” seminars. BoatU.S. also hosts a Women in Boating Web site at http://www.BoatUS.com/women For more information on NWSA, go to http://www.WomenSailing.org.