Latest News

On Sunday, 23 February, the Royal Australian Naval Sailing Association (RANSA) hosted Race 4 of the Sydney Harbour Women's Keelboat Series.

This series of five races is a collaboration between RANSA, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA), the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron (RSYS), the Middle Harbour Yacht Club (MHYC) and the Manly Yacht Club (MYC). Crews compete in divisions including full female crews, female helms with mixed crews, and spinnaker or non-spinnaker categories. RSYS was represented by Lively (Sophie Nelson), Xena (Amanda Hicks), and Jabiru (Danielle Gerace).

Race update from Amanda Hicks, ‘The race commenced off Point Piper at 12:30 PM, which, coincidentally, was also the low tide mark. With the mixed crew of Xena Sunday, a few twilight sailors, and the north-easterly breeze in the mid-to-high teens (and rising), we decided to pop in a reef, as the sunny skies provided ideal conditions for sailing. We ran the busy line to get a good start, before tacking away and working our way up to the Nielsen Park mark.

The next leg downwind to N2 proved interesting, as the location and rounding (starboard & west) were in the opposite direction to our usual Twilight route. This caused much debate and map referencing before returning to NP. The race continued on a busy harbour, with many other Sydney sailors enjoying the perfect conditions. The sight of our fleet flying their kites downwind was fabulous, and it made us determined to enter that mode next season.’



Unfortunately, Jabiru was among the boats that confused the rounding marks N2 and N3 and did not sail the correct course. Jabiru's helm, Danielle Gerace, commented, ‘I’m sure men experience it too, but first-time helming is intimidating. I try not to say no and grab the chance when I can. I’ll need to make the LOTS regatta this year! It was nice to meet the other women at RANSA after the race and to hear from other new and later-to-sailing women.’

The next race in the series is scheduled for March 23, 2025, hosted by the Manly Yacht Club. This event, known as the Women's Challenge, will serve as Race 5 of the series.
Results
Enter the final race in the series on March 23

Additional commentary:

RSYS Vice Commodore, Karyn Gojnich writes, ‘It was a fantastic day to be out on Sydney Harbour. The sun was shining, and the wind played nice. We had intermediate members Charlotte Ellis and Charlie Alexander onboard. As always, the J/70 was just fun, especially when lit up downwind with the spinnaker up. My holiday must have been too long, as I mistakenly confused the Naval rounding marks. Unfortunately, a few boats following us made the same mistake. It was great to see that Xena was paying attention and was rewarded with a second place finish in the race.

Photos by Margaret Fraser-Martin