FROM: Greg Bailey, Executive Director
director@sailpowersteammuseum.org
DATE: July 27, 2026
RE: Meet the Women on the Water Team
Join the Women On The Water Team at the Midcoast Sailing Center each Friday
for Evening Sailing
Rockland – Meet Capt. Leigh Anne Mumford and her first mate, Alicia Berry – the team spearheading the Women on the Water (WoW) sailing events at the Sail, Power, & Steam Museum’s (SPSM) Midcoast Sailing Center (MCSC). Join them each Friday aboard the Friendship Sloop Persistence. WOW welcomes 5-6 sailors who are absolute beginners, alongside women with prior sailing experience for the evening sails from 5-8 p.m., weather permitting.
Meet the Team
Captain Leigh Anne Mumford
Captain Leigh Anne Mumford grew up sailing on Cape Cod and recently spent five years teaching sailing on the mighty Lake Michigan, balancing a career on the water with more than three decades in the performing arts as a Lighting Designer and Technical Director. Now based in Maine, she brings a diverse background in education, leadership, and seamanship to every vessel she leads.
After completing professional maritime training at the Marine Professional Training School (MPT) in Florida, Capt. Mumford earned her U.S. Coast Guard Captain's License and has since built experience as an instructor, charter captain, racer, and maritime educator. An active competitor, she has raced aboard J/24s, J/105s, J/111s, and numerous other vessels, including a podium finish in the 2022 South Shore Yacht Club Queen's Cup Regatta as part of an accomplished all-women crew aboard a Sydney 36.
Her maritime experience also includes service aboard the historic 1894 Schooner the SSV Ernestina-Morrissey, where she helped deliver educational programs for youth and adults while sailing throughout the East Coast, St. Lawrence Seaway, and Great Lakes.
Today, Capt. Mumford leads sailing programs and charters, sharing a passion for teaching sailors of all backgrounds to develop confidence, skills, leadership, and a lifelong connection to the water.
Through MCSC's (WoW) Women on the Water programs, she fosters a supportive environment where women sailors can build experience, competence, and community with a vision that one day they will simply be known as sailors. Leigh is grateful for the warm welcome and support received from the entire SPSP team and looks forward to contributing to the organization's continued success.
First Mate Alicia Barry
First mate and volunteer, Alicia Barry assists Capt. Mumford with all things ‘learning to sail.’ Barry is a skilled and experienced sailor.
A south shore Cohasset, MA native, she began sailing lessons and then raced competitively as a teen at the Cohasset Sailing Club. Sailing at a young age instilled valuable lessons in Alicia, like the importance of persistence and working as a team.
As an adult, Barry sailed with her family in Bristol, RI, on their Cal 25. During COVID, she moved to South Carolina, where she joined the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club and volunteered on the Race Committee and Fripp Island Sea Rescue.
These experiences help Barry hone her technical skills as a sailor, taking on more responsibilities in leadership roles.
Over the past 14 years, she sailed out of Port Clyde with her brother on his 26’ Lyle Hess Cutter. Sailing has been a constant way for Barry to connect with nature and her community, and it provides endless opportunities to grow and learn.
For those sailors with prior experience, MCSC also offers rentals from the fleet, if interested in expanding the WoW flotilla. After the evening sail, feel free to bring snacks or treats and gather under the huge event tent with your new WoW cohort.
This will be a collaborative venture with MCSC and our fabulous female sailing community, so please come with your thoughts and ideas of how we can grow our WoW community!
As always, SPSM’s MCSC aim is to keep access to the water accessible for all. We are currently working to raise funds to subsidize the WoW experience for those who may need additional assistance. Reach out to us for more information, or visit www.sailpowersteammuseum.org, or www.midcoastsailingcenter.org, or call 207-701-7627 for booking your sail.
Dates: Fridays 5-8 p.m. at Midcoast Sailing Center.
Cost: $50/session or 5 sessions for $200.
For Additional information, please contact wow@sailpowersteammuseum.org
