06 April 2021
MEDIA RELEASE
Women sailors called to join the evolution
Women sailors, experienced and novice, will be descending on Waikawa Boating Club for the annual Women’s Regatta in September this year. The notice of race has been posted as an open invitation to women around New Zealand and Australia to come to Marlborough for the two day regatta over the weekend of 18-19 September 2021.
Past years have drawn Olympians and global circumnavigators to join newcomers to sailing and those who have never raced before. The weekend of yacht racing is a wonderful reason for over a hundred women to get together for a bit of fun and personal challenge.
Accommodation in Waikawa and Picton is already being booked up by crews planning to be racing in 2021. Event organiser, Juliet Abbott, has been managing some social media engagement and has noticed a lot of excitement for the event from around the country. “There are at least 60 Auckland based women planning to be here”, says Abbott.
While anyone can bring their own boat to the regatta, the yachts are mostly provided by members of the Waikawa Boating Club. Some long-time racers in the event have a permanent booking on a particular boat and the owners keep that in their calendar for them. The owner of the yacht named Sirrah, David Paul, says, “I’ve got regular skipper Wendy Walker from Christchurch and she’ll pull a crew together and be here again. I used to go on the boat with them until they became better at sailing it than I am. Wendy ended up sacking me”.
For some boats it’s been necessary for the owner to be on the boat due to insurance or technical matters and in some cases that owner is a male. Waikawa Boating Club, development officer, David Hancock says, “The rules of the event have in the past been 50% of the crew could be male with a female at the helm. In developing the event and making it more about women in sailing, this has been reduced to 30% rounded down in 2021 and the vision is that we will have 100% female crews in the near future. As soon as we can get enough sailors ready and boats that can accommodate a totally female crew, we’ll be there”.
Auckland based Evolution Sails is the major sponsor of the regatta in 2021. Hancock says, “Evolution Sails jumped at the chance to be the naming sponsor and we’re delighted to have them on board. We can see the women’s regatta evolving and even their name fits with that direction for the event.”
The program starts on the Friday afternoon with a cruise out to a bay in Queen Charlotte Sound for drinks and a BBQ and generally get to meet each other. Then racing starts on Saturday with two longer distance races up and down Queen Charlotte Sound. Sunday is two shorter races around the cans before everyone heads home. Saturday night is particularly popular with dinner and a guest speaker who will generally be an inspirational woman sailor.
Information on joining the event can be found on the Waikawa Boating Club website www.waikawaboatingclub.co.nz Hancock says, “Anyone is welcome to sign up for the event and as long as we have enough boats, we’ll get them a spot on a crew that suits their level of sailing experience”.
ENDS
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