Living in a state as big as Texas, it’s not surprising that Karen Smith has a heart as big as her home state. Coming from tiny Aransas Pass, Karen made her way to bigger things and a much bigger city in Fort Worth where she is currently commodore of the Forth Worth Boat Club, located on the shores of Eagle Mountain Lake. Working with the Boat Club is a good fit for Karen, because - like Karen - the club is committed to promoting sailing and recreational boating. “I feel like I’ve raised half the kids in the club,” she says talking about the junior sailing program. “Because it’s fun,” she says when asked why she is so involved. She will likely serve two years as commodore and in that time, she wants to create more junior and family activities to get kids on the water while they're young and make it a fun place to be. In addition to duties as commodore, she uses her club race officer certification to run local races. She also loves to hop onto the race course as a competitor herself and she's quite good at it too, competing in two U.S. Women's Championship finals. On the national level, Karen also helps coordinate the U.S. Men's and Women's Championships. While she's obviously dedicated and committed to the sport, she gives all the credit to the hardworking volunteers around the country who keep sailing clubs - large and small - afloat. “Sailors are the best people in the world. It’s a great community. That’s the kind of people I want to be around.”