Community sport has never known a time like the past five months. No one could have imagined or foreseen the challenges and strains that 2020 has put on all sectors of the sport whether at club or elite levels.  

Since this pandemic started, Australian Sailing’s priority has been to interpret the various public health orders, regulations, exemptions and recommendations; in order provide advice and guidance to clubs on how best to manage through this crisis and safeguard the health, safety & wellbeing of the sailing community.  

We have also been strongly advocating for exemptions to “blanket” rules which were clearly not applicable to our sport. Sailing has been lucky in that it was one of the first activities to be able to “return to sport” and also receive exemptions that allowed recreational boating well in advance of other activities.

The cancellation of many club regattas, offshore races, state, national and world championships over the last couple of months unfortunately are just the latest in a string of unavoidable developments for our community. We are grateful that – despite a global pandemic - sailing at the local level has been able, for the most part, to return. Some Clubs or Associations had to make the very difficult decision not to offer club racing, but those calls were not made lightly.  

The latest recommendations issued by NSW Office of Sport on 19th August have proved challenging for all to both understand and implement.  

Over recent months we have been involved in honest and frank conversations with the teams at both NSW Health and the Office of Sport and these are continuing as we seek official exemptions to the current rules.

Putting community first is at the heart of everything Australian Sailing has done this year. As we speak, there are some encouraging numbers regarding the lowering of COVID19 community spread in NSW, but it is not a time to become complacent. 

In this uncertain time, we urge our community to continue to act with compassion, kindness and care as we work through this together, and take all necessary precautions to protect yourselves and each other. We say thank you again to the many remarkable club officials, volunteers and staff who are bearing an enormous additional workload and continue to go above and beyond to keep us out sailing where possible. 

Australian Sailing – NSW/ACT