The Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron Women’s Sportsboat Regatta was held on 19 – 20 November at Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron (BYS).

The event had 10 teams and 47 sailors from clubs across Victoria and NSW and was contested in J/70s.  With an all-female competitor line up there were many remarkable sailors involved of all ages and experience and created not only a great competition but a dynamic event.  The teams were split into two groups for the umpired stadium racing style event.  Thanks to the generous donations of boats from BYS members to include with the three club owned J/70s there was to be up to 6 teams racing per session.

The first group that included two teams from Royal Brighton Yacht Club and three teams from Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron completed four races first up Saturday morning.  RBYC's Lily Richardson, Chloe Fisher, Matilda Richardson, Laura Thomson and Anna Cripsey finished on top of the group with a 1, 1, 3, 1.  Second was Laura Harding's team from BYC with Ella Grimshaw, Jessica Batty, Sally Danks and Jade Telford onboard.

The second group headed out at 11:30am to swap into the boats and included three NSW teams - one from Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and two teams from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.  RPAYC’s Jenny Danks won the first race from RSYS’s Sara Ladd, followed by RSYS’s Natasha Miller and Rosebud Yacht Club's Kylie Blamain. The second race was started but abandoned after the first lap when the breeze had built to over 25 knots. With more wind predicted to be on the way, boats returned to shore and waited optimistically for the wind to abate. Eventually racing was cancelled for the day.

On Saturday night the ‘Sailing Journeys’ dinner was hosted by past BYS Commodore and Australian Sailing board member Jenni Maclean. Special guests were triple Olympian and Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Rear Commodore Karyn Gojnich, Queenscliff Cruising Yacht Club Commodore Lee Renfree, winner of the 2022 Victorian She Sails award for the introduction of her KISS program and Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron’s own Australian Sailing Squad member Laura Harding who is currently campaigning for selection in the 49erFx for Paris 2024. This was an intriguing Q and A allowing the guests to find out more and relate to some similar experiences of sailing for pleasure and racing as well as get to know the competition better.  It was a sell-out dinner and enjoyed by all.

On Sunday morning the wind had dropped to an average of 20 knots, so group two were sent out to the race course to complete their set. On the way to the start Ladd’s troubles started with the jib literally blowing off the forestay in a sizeable gust. The crew quickly dropped the jib and re-attached the plastic hanks that held until 30 seconds after the first race start. The team were quick to seek redress but needed to sail ashore to swap boats. They were back on course for the third race however not long after the fleet was hit with a squall, registering over 50 knots on a hand held wind gauge, and racing was abandoned. It then became a challenge to get all sails down and boats and sailors ashore safely.  The Blairgowrie onwater safety team were impressive under extremely difficult conditions.

Unfortunately, due to weather restrictions, the series could not be completed but each team showed great skill and sportsmanship and created a very eager atmosphere at the end for next year’s regatta amongst all the sailors.

Thank you to Archies, Kollab, Bass & Flinders Distillery, Fever-Tree, Gordon Studio Glassblowers Red Hill and SheSails for supporting the event.

The Blairgowrie volunteers put in a stella effort both on and off the water. Thank you to Regatta Manager Felicia Brown, PRO Andrew ‘Doc’ Little, Sally Derham, Anthony Landgren, Martin Kudnig, John Plumridge, Alister Danks, Matthew O’Brien, Sean O’Brien, Ian Cooper, David Brown, Jonathan Harding, Casey Bates, Hayden Harding, Ethan O’Brien, Tim Dorning, Hayden Brown, Matt Dorning, Ed Warner, Andrew Lawson, Peter Southwell, Jane Grimshaw, Julie Grimshaw, Lucy Harding, Chris Wilson, Richard Backwell, Wayne Bates and the Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron staff.

Overall all the women competing loved the inaugural event and everyone is looking forward to the next Women’s Sportsboat Regatta at BYS.

Photo credit: Brad McKenzie