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From novice boater to racer to instructor to commodore, this California woman inspires, educates, and enriches the lives of women through sailing.
Marie Rogers
Marie Rogers, a captain, instructor, avid West Coast sailboat racer, and the first Black woman to serve as commodore of the historic Los Angeles Yacht Club (LAYC), is this year's BoatUS/National Women's Sailing Association (NWSA) Leadership in Women's Sailing Award honoree.
The BoatUS/NWSA Award recognizes an individual with a record of achievement in inspiring, educating, and enriching the lives of women through sailing. Roger's nomination cited her, "helping sailors move away from the idea that sailing is a white man's sport," embracing the hard work that must be done for inclusion, and her belief that "sailing is an amazing metaphor of how to get along."
Rogers did not grow up sailing regularly, but had learned the basics. When her son, Colin, befriended several Los Angeles Yacht members and was soon crewing on a 70-foot sled for a member who ran the club's junior program, word spread that the young man's mom could also sail. She was soon invited aboard and offered the wheel. That man with the 70-foot racing sailboat later became Rogers' husband.
Not content at being what some refer as "a yacht club wife," Rogers attended sailing school; earned her U.S. Coast Guard captain's license; studied weather, navigation and diesel mechanics; and bought her own Cal 25, which became the platform for the club's community sailing program. She took groups of women on adventures to Catalina Island, raced a Transpac, and served on LAYC's board, eventually becoming commodore in 2019 — a rare event for a Black woman in America and the only one the West Coast to helm a major yacht club.
What also stood out to award judges is that Rogers had no youth or college sail racing experience and learned largely an adult, eventually becoming an instructor. Her eagerness to share her passion for sailing was apparent to the award judges, as was her generosity and dedication to inclusiveness. For Rogers, leading a major yacht club was not a "job," but rather a calling and something she felt she needed to do in service to the sport. Today, Rogers coastal races aboard Marie, a Nelson Marek 55, with her husband, Bill, and races closer to home on her J-29, Rush Street.
Rogers was profiled in the November/December 2020 issue of BoatUS Magazine.
She received the award at the National Women's Sailing Conference, held September 11, 2021, at Jackson Park Yacht Club in Chicago.