I was privileged to be able to join a team for the second year in a row at the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta (AWKR).
The three day event is held over the June long weekend out of the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in St Kilda, VIC.
This year’s event was mostly sunny but with the expected chill of winter sailing in Melbourne, with the breeze ranging from 5 knots at the beginning of day 1 to a blustery day 3 gusting to 25 knots in the final race of the regatta. The variety made for a great range of sailing, with a bit of something for everyone on the race course.
I competed with a team from Middle Harbour Yacht Club in NSW on Adams 10 Rage. Team Rage ended up third overall in division 1 EHS (event handicap system), closely behind Ocean Respect Racing from RPAYC (2nd) and Sunshine from RFBYC (1st).
The AWKR attracts a high level of competition with teams from every state in Australia as well as New Zealand. This year also included entry ‘Ocean Respect Racing’ made up of a team of fantastic professional and top women sailors with Volvo Ocean Race and Olympic sailing experience.
To have so much female sailing talent in one place is a great testament to the increasing contribution and participation of women in sailing, and creates a great environment for women to push their performance to the next level.
There were 39 entrants in this year’s event across two divisions and a one design S80 class. Next year (2020) will be the 30th running of the regatta, so hopefully the fleet will continue to grow in strength and talent.
Visit the AWKR website to find out more about the event.
