Meet the Sailors
The Sea Bags Women’s Sailing Team is composed of women ages 16-62. We have racing in our blood and our passion for sailing runs deep. Our trust and confidence in one another strengthen with every race. The majority of the team’s sailors live in Maine with a few located in Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and California. When we aren’t sailing, we’re managing full and fulfilling lives as working professionals, moms, retirees, and students.
Erica Beck Spencer
CAPTAIN, SKIPPER - Portland, ME
Erica considers it the honor of a lifetime to serve as the skipper for the Sea Bags Sailing Team, second only to raising her two children. She comes from a long line of sailors, having been introduced to sailing by her father at an early age, and she was lucky enough to race on the family's Friendship Sloop with her grandfather in Maine. “Nothing gives me the feeling I get when racing. The intense laser focus and the occasional euphoria of finishing really well against some of the best sailors in the world is exhilarating. But no matter how we do, I always come off the water recharged. I know the Sea Bags Women’s Sailing Team is inspiring a lot of people to push outside of their comfort zones and to try things they’ve always wanted to try, whether it be sailing or something else. This is a responsibility we are quite proud of as a team.”
Emily Carville
CO-CAPTAIN AND TRIMMER - Freeport, ME
Having grown up sailing a Herreshoff catboat on the Kennebec River and out in the Gulf of Maine with her family, Emily credits her parents first, and then her college sailing friends and her husband for her love of and passion for sailing. “I am a better mom, wife, friend, and employee when making time to get out on the water. It is there I can achieve a sense of clarity and purpose and then bring that all back into shore. The singular focus that sailboat racing demands enables a camaraderie like none other. Sea Bags’ sponsorship enables this group of fine women to pursue our individual and collective passions and to support the greater sustainability effort Sea Bags is helping to drive.”
Carol Pickering
Mid-deck Controller, Bow - Portland, ME
Carol grew up in Kennebunkport in a large sailing family. “As a small child on my parents’ boat, I remember the feeling of calm. As I’ve gotten older and more involved in racing, I have learned to challenge myself and prove that you’re never too old to learn something new. I love being part of a team of women that supports each other. I’ve also learned that I can do more than I sometimes expect of myself. I know that I’m part of a team of champions. I hope that my association with SBWST has shown my son and daughter that women and girls can do anything they set their minds to because racing is tough”
Joy Martin
cOMPASS, BREEZE - STANLEY, NY
“No one sailed in my family. I knew nothing about racing and didn't even know how to swim.” But things changed in college when Joy went sailing with friends. Before long she was winning local regattas. “I sail for the physical and mental challenge, the camaraderie of the sailing family, and the feeling of conquering the elements. As the oldest member of the team (57), I was delighted that my younger teammates wanted me and valued me as part of the team. I have taught many girls and women to sail and compete.”
Hillary Keimig
Tactician and Strategist - WEST Greenwich, RI
Hillary was the first in her family to sail. By the age of ten, racing had become a passion that led her to various school sailing teams and numerous regattas all the way through college. Hillary is a certified sailing coach and instructor. “I've never been more satisfied with anything like I have been with sailing. It's just a feeling I cannot describe, but it makes me feel whole. My role on the Sea Bags team is different than on any other sailing team I've joined. I have enjoyed our experiences together and to see us grow so much over the last 8 years has been rewarding and motivating to keep learning and keep having fun together!"
Jess Harris
Bow - Falmouth, ME
Jess comes from a long line of Maine boat builders and fishermen. Her father built Friendship Sloops and Downeast-style fishing boats and his boatyard was Jess’s playground. She started sailing when she was eight. Her first regatta was two years later. ”It was a windy weekend on Buzzards Bay and it took three of us to hold the Beatle Cat's tiller. To this day I still feel that rush of adrenaline and nervous excitement when we race. Racing sailboats is physically and mentally challenging, which to me is a great reason to keep doing it well into my golden years.”
Laura Graham
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Laura learned to sail on the shifty inland lakes in the Southeast. She is a past commodore of the Birmingham Sailing Club in Alabama and continues to give back to the sport she loves as the US Sailing Portsmouth Chair. She is a big advocate for getting young adults, especially women, into sailing. These days she can be found rallying women to sail on the San Francisco Bay. “I am so excited to sail with the SBWST. They are such talented women and I have so much fun every time I step on the boat. I also see this as a great opportunity to encourage more women and young girls to give sailing a try. ”
Sarah Kent
TACTICIAN - Swampscott, ma
Sarah grew up sailing in Maine and, for years, taught sailing and directed junior programs, which inspired her to become a life-long educator. She raced in college and was also a collegiate coach while in graduate school. "Being on the water grounds me and getting to compete with such a great group of women is inspiring. We strive to both improve and have fun at every regatta."