About Me
I'm a Wind Goddess!
My name is Annie Gardner.
Years ago, while resting after a team building charter in the Virgin Islands, my fellow female captain friends and I were hanging out and reflecting on the wonderful week we experienced. Working with the Garmin Cycling Team which does high level competition including the Tour De France, we knew that once again we had accommplished our goals and theirs: To help them bond more tightly as a group, and to learn about ourselves in the proccess. Suzette dubbed us all (the female captains) goddesses. When I relayed the story to my husband Eric, he named me his wind goddess. With this in mind, I have been sharing with other women that we are all Goddesses.
Pick your passion, and name it for yourself.
What kind of Goddess are you?
My Background in Sailing
I grew up in Miami and moved to San Diego at 23 yo. Sailing was part of life in my family, so I was given a little boat at age 9, learned basic skills and independence , and as I grew, my boats got bigger. Next was a Sunfish, then a Hobie 16. I was hooked. Our family vacations were spent taking the family boat to the Bahamas and the cruising lifestyle was embedded. Somewhere along the way I discovered that racing was fun and started crewing, then driving my dads 36' sailboat in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys.
In 1981, for a college graduation present, my parents let me take their 37' racing yacht to compete in what was equivilant to the offshore world championships, the SORC. I repeated this in 1982 with a bigger, faster ,sponsored yacht, and did this both years with all women. It was a first in sailing history and we cracked open that ceiling. In 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a silver medal was placed around my neck at the Windsurfing Exhibition. Since then I've won over 20 national titles and 5 world championships on sailboards and Hobie 16's (the largest one design catamaran class), and in 2019 won the Hobie 16 World Championships once again. In 1995 I was chosen to navigate on the America3 Women's Team to compete for the America's Cup. Over the years I've run numerous sailing clinics for women and men from offshore racing to windsurfers. I've had a 100 ton USCG Merchant Marine License for 25 years. When not racing or raising kids, I worked as an adjunct professor at the University of Denver for 20 years as a captain teaching and facilitating team building on sailboats in San Diego and the Virgin Islands. From 2015-2020 my husband Eric and I cruised on our 47' Catamaran named El Gato doing teaching charters along the way. We started in France, hit over 40 countries, and sailed over 40,000 miles, winding up in San Diego when the pandemic forced us to abandon our South Pacific dreams.
Making lemonade out of lemons, we are enjoying our time back home and have been cruising Mexico and Southern California.
Why do the Wind Goddess Retreats in the BVI's?
It has always been one of my favorite places to island hop.
After sailing there for many decades, it still has the charm and beauty that takes your breath away.
If you've never been, it is a bucket list kind of place. If you've been before, you know what I'm talking about and why many people go as often as possible.
Like going to your favorite restuarant, you know you will not be disappointed.
My sailing experience is an important aspect of this retreat.
You are in good hands, and having a captain you can trust and are comfortable with will make your trip relaxing as well as fun.