Women and girls to set sail in regatta

The inaugural Women and Girls’ sailing regatta will be held on March 19 and 20 at Woody Point’s Humpybong Yacht Club.

It is a two-day event, but participants can register for one or two days of sailing.

Regatta spokeswoman Kate Slade says it will be the first of many.

“This will be an annual event on our racing calendar. Entry is restricted to female skippers only. While male crew are permitted, the skipper must be female,” Kate says.

The regatta is being held to encourage and provide the opportunity for female sailors of all ages (with a junior division) and skill levels, to come together and improve their skills.

Kate says the event is open to all off-the-beach classes including a wide range of dinghy and catamaran classes with competitors invited from the southeast and northern NSW.

“We are catering for female sailors of all ages from 7 to 70 plus. We hope the regatta will encourage and attract many women from beginner level to experienced sailors at competition level, to take part in an event exclusively for them,” she says.

“We have many excellent female sailors throughout Queensland and interstate. It is time they had a regatta in Bramble Bay to call their own to encourage, support and promote female sailing.”

For those traveling to the event, Humpybong Yacht Club is happy to provide overnight camping facilities on Friday (March 18) and Saturday (March 19). Contact the club at [email protected] to reserve your place.

To register, for the notice of race and further details, visit https://www.hyc.net.au/events/115993/

Registering early helps the club with race planning, logistics, planning, volunteer rostering, catering and other consumables.

Sharing love of sailing

Humpybong Yacht Club encourages competitors of all experience levels to get involved in the sport. There are classes for ‘Tackers,’ juniors at entry level to develop their sailing skills. They can then graduate to ‘Green Fleet’, designed for teens and adults new to sailing to learn the ropes of competitive sailing.

‘Discover Sailing’ classes are open to adults as an introduction from beginner to advanced levels to gain hands-on experience and skills development.

Kate says the club also offers regular sailing for more experienced adults including club racing, championships, and social sailing.

Humpybong Yacht Club also hosts Deaf Sailing Queensland which supports their members to participate in social sailing, club events and regattas.

For more information about Humpybong Yacht Club, visit the website