Avril Sellars is 77, arthritic, and unquestionably in command. When the Scotswoman yells at her crew aboard Jabula, they listen—though crew member Basia Dworak-Bahan gently pushes back on the characterisation. “Avril is so calm,” Dworak-Bahan says. “She pre-empts any situations and instructs us calmly. If you could dream up the perfect skipper, she is it.”
Sellars has sailed for over 40 years and returned to the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta roughly a dozen times. The 34th edition, held across Port Phillip in Melbourne by Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron over the King’s birthday weekend, has drawn her back for the same reason each time: the atmosphere. “It’s like coming home to a big family,” she says. “And it’s always good to see the people you haven’t seen for a while.”
That pull—the combination of serious racing and genuine kinship—defines the regatta. About a quarter of this year’s competitors are newcomers, yet many find themselves threading through a web of familiar names and faces. Dinah Eagle, from Sydney, knows people here from offshore campaigns, from Sydney Harbour racing, and from the Rolex Fastnet Race. She arrived to help with mainsheet aboard Spartan, a Beneteau 34.7 skippered by the high-profile Wendy Tuck. What struck her most was the Club’s openness. “The people who loaned us Spartan, the support—the Boat Buoys fix repairs overnight so the boat’s ready to go the next morning,” she says.
Eagle had clocked thousands of ocean miles before arriving in Melbourne. She has contested 13 Sydney Hobarts and countless offshore races. Yet stepping onto the start line with a full fleet for the first time—she’d only done pursuit-style racing previously—still mattered. She leaves for Ireland in two days to race in the Round Ireland Yacht Race, and she sees the regatta as ideal preparation for colder waters.
Johanna Motteram crewed Aria, a Bavaria 34 she co-owns with her husband, with their 25-year-old daughter Emma alongside. Yesterday was Johanna’s first time at the helm with a full fleet, her first time sailing without Phil. There were moments when Aria cruised at 5 knots and she was singing at the helm. When they crossed the finish line, relief flooded through her. “We started well, we sailed the course and we finished—without hitting anyone or anything,” she says.
Emma watched her mother navigate the marks and other boats with growing confidence. A year ago, Johanna racing Aria would have seemed impossible. Now her daughter sees something shifting. Emma called it seamless, though Johanna credits the crew dynamic they’d built over months of training on both Aria and on Siren, another competitor this week. What mattered most to Emma wasn’t the racing itself. It was that her mother found her way to this moment. “It’s been amazing watching her become more confident in the lead-up,” Emma says. The regatta also gave Emma a reason to come home from where she’d moved out, to spend purposeful time with family.
The light winds have frustrated Race Officer Laura Hughson, trying her hand at the role for the first time. But they’ve also slowed the pace, given crews room to breathe, to chat over dinner with other boats, to swap phone numbers with women from smaller classes. That’s the real work of the regatta—not just recording results, though racing matters deeply. It’s building the networks that keep women coming back to Port Phillip year after year, Scottswomen and Sydneysiders and Melburnians alike, all here for what they describe as a warm, welcoming weekend where sailing ties them together.
