Wind and sunshine vindicated the 34th Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta. After two frustrating days of calms and oscillating breezes that saw barely two races completed, Port Phillip delivered on Sunday with enough breeze to run three races and hand the titles to decisive winners across both divisions.
Ciara Earley’s Jacobina came to Port Phillip as the seasoned competitor, not the favourite. At thirty-eight years of sailing and over a decade of AWKR entries, she’d never taken the regatta title. That changed on the final day when her Jutson 950 won Race 3 to claim the Division 1 crown and the Gai Clough Memorial Trophy. Four wins from five races told the story of a boat and crew firing on all cylinders when it mattered.
“Oh my God, that is super cool,” Earley said when the results came through. The RMYS member could barely string sentences together. Her crew had sailed together for the first time just on Saturday, yet they’d gelled into the kind of unit that wins regattas. Her husband John Rea crewed on Jacobina, which normally races out of Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron.
What struck Earley most wasn’t the trophy. “The people that you see year after year – it’s got so much going for it. You have lots of laughs,” she reflected. “The regatta is great, fabulous, and the racing is genuinely competitive. It’s lots of fun.” Robyn Ragauskas’ Bullet took second on countback, with Katie Holroyd’s Serious Yahoo just a point further back in third.
Division 2 belonged to Michelle de Blaquiere’s Gridlock, a J24 that edged out Holly Farmer’s S80, Revolution, on countback. Farmer had travelled south from Tauranga with a full New Zealand crew, and while she missed the division title for the second time since 2019, she reclaimed the S80 trophy by seven points from Fiona McManus’ Mood Indigo.
De Blaquiere, normally a Sabre sailor, found something special in the Division 2 fleet. “I love that I can sail with my girls here. It’s good to look around the room packed with females with a lot of experience,” she said. Her crew mixed sailors from Blairgowrie and Sandringham yacht clubs, all knowing their roles despite not sailing together often. When tactical errors crept in, they simplified. “We went into the last race concentrating on the basics – mark strategy against our key opponents,” de Blaquiere explained.
Farmer spoke warmly of the occasion. Arriving with no breeze and staying through Sunday’s resurrection, she saw the regatta’s true appeal. “We thoroughly enjoy this regatta. We have a great time here. This is a fun, social and welcoming regatta and keeps the women involved in sailing,” she said. Growing up on New Zealand’s lakes meant light air felt familiar; strong wind would have been nice, but she wasn’t complaining.
Race Officer Laura Hughson had promised wind on Sunday morning at RMYS, and delivered. By 10am the first gun fired and the 36-boat fleet sailed down Port Phillip under spinnaker, a sight that made the weekend’s earlier frustrations worthwhile. Nine S80s, multiple J24s and keelboats across several classes had turned up for what Monica Jones, co-chair with Celia Dymond, described as a near-record fleet. “Everyone has enjoyed themselves on and off the water,” Jones said.
The regatta handed out awards beyond the main trophies. Fiona McManus from Darwin won the sportsmanship trophy for declining a tactical advantage that would have damaged a rival’s score. Sue Burke, skipper of Lancoorie, took the Rohan Brownlee Leadership and Endeavour Award. Deb Parker’s Double Shot showed most improvement, while Kym Jenkins on Cloud Ten earned novice helm honours.
By the time Councillor Serge Thomann and Commodore Cherry Birch handed over the prizes at the official presentation, the regatta had done what it set out to do: remind women across three countries why they keep coming back.
