Weekend excursion sailing San Francisco Bay and California coastline to benefit self-esteem program for high school girls

SAN FRANCISCO, February 22, 2007 -- Women with a hankering to sail an 85-foot schooner and promote a good cause are needed to participate in the three-day Women's Sailing Challenge April 19 through 22. No experience is necessary.

Participants will learn to sail a traditionally-rigged ship on San Francisco Bay and along the neighboring coastline. The Challenge is a benefit for the Tall Ship Education Academy (TSEA), an academic program based at San Francisco State University.

The Challenge is limited to 12 adult women who are each required to raise a minimum of $1,200 to enter. Pledges are tax-deductible and will provide scholarships for TSEA's Tall Ship Semester for Girls program, which gives high school girls the opportunity to build confidence and self-esteem while learning to sail.

Participation in the Challenge is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Instruction will take place aboard the schooner Seaward, which will also serve as home for a weekend free of land-lubber trials and tribulations. The schooner is a U.S. Coast Guard-certified passenger vessel owned and operated by the Sausalito, Calif. based charter company Call of the Sea. Sailing instruction will be provided by the Seaward crew, Tall Ships Semester for Girls alums and instructors from the TSEA.

The Challenge begins on San Francisco Bay at 6 p.m., Thursday, April 19, and concludes 5 p.m., Sunday, April 22. Shipboard overnight accommodations and meals will be provided.

For more information or to register, contact the Tall Ship Academy at (415) 405-3703 or visit http://www.tallshipacademy.org.

The Tall Ship Education Academy (TSEA) is a special program of the Recreation and Leisure Department of San Francisco State University.