General Manager - Western Australia Monthly Update September 2023
The latest updates from Australian Sailing's General Manager WA – Lawson Dixon.
Please click this link to find a copy of all past WA General Managers Updates.
The 72nd YWA Annual General Meeting
17:00 18th September 2023 @ YWA Boardroom, Royal Perth Yacht Club.
Notice of meeting is here
Australia II: 40 years on Gala Dinner
AUSTRALIA II: 40 YEARS ON GALA DINNER
Step aboard as Royal Perth Yacht Club commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Australia’s historic America’s Cup Victory with the legendary Australia II Team.
Prepare to be captivated by the exclusive, behind-the-scenes, Untold Stories directly from the Australia II Team!
Delight in an evening of elegance, including an exquisite three-course meal, accompanied by a 5-hour beverage package showcasing the finest Swings and Roundabouts Varietal Range.
Date: Tuesday, 26th September 2023
Time: 6:00 PM onwards
Venue: Royal Perth Yacht Club
Dress Code: Black Tie / Formal
Enjoy discounted tickets to the Australia II: 40 Years On Gala Dinner as a valued Member of RPYC’s esteemed Partner Yacht Clubs. RPYC Partner Yacht Club Members Tickets: $180 per person. Proof of Membership is required.
To secure your tickets, contact the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Reception at 9389 1555 or via email at reception@rpyc.com.au.
For details and updates, please visit RPYC’s official event page: https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/4Ar8CZYM5nTnLgKszagCh?domain=rpyc.com.au/”
A message from Phillipa Packer, Ron Tough Yachting Foundation.
Hi All,
It is a while since I updated you all on everything the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation has been doing. My apologies for that and I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.
In brief, RTYF has been busy championing the sport of sailing in Western Australia, through our annually presented RTYF 2023 Awards, the RTYF Pacer Racer Challenge and the RTYF Coaching Clinics. This year we have pledged to grant $71,500 to encourage and support 38 sailors to travel overseas and participate in a World Championship, to 2 Yacht Clubs and to 10 Class Associations to organise and run an extra weekend of coaching to benefit their sailors prior to their major regatta. We feel that this targeted support is of direct benefit to assist our current high-performance sailors as well as the emerging talented and keen younger sailors. Thank you for your kind donations. They are very appreciated – by the sailors!
To read more, click on this link RTYF Article for Club Newsletters, Aug 2023.docx to be filled in properly! Also, our revamped website www.rtyf.au will show you reports and photos from our sailors of their recent events. It’s worth reading!
Best regards and enjoy your sailing,
Philippa Packer,
Chairman,
Ron Tough Yachting Foundation
Lessons learned and bar raised at Olympic Test Event
A Sou’wester of 10-12 knots made sure there was still more variation to come into play on the final day at the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event in Marseille.
At the conclusion of the regatta, Australian Sailing Team (AST) High Performance Director, Iain Brambell said, “The Test Event has been a highly successful venture, as it saw the return of Matt Wearn to the top of the podium and five of nine Australian entries competing in their Medal Series/Races.
“We came into the Olympic Test Event to first and foremost compete against the best in the world, and secondly to fully test our processes both on and off the water. We have successfully achieved these two objectives and depart the Olympic venue this afternoon with many learnings and numerous strategic opportunities to explore in the coming year.”
This won’t be the last time the Aussies see the venue before the Games next year, as Brambell explained.
“Although we are unable to continue to directly utilise the Olympic venue as it houses the newly built French National Sailing Centre, our athletes will relocate two kilometres South to our mobile base at the Yachting Club Pointe Rouge. Here the team will continue to maintain their intricate exploration and connection to the waters and weather patterns of Marseille in the lead-up to the Paris Games.”
“This regatta has been an excellent practice run for next year’s Games, as well as a great litmus test for the entire team preparing for the 2023 Sailing World Championships. The Worlds will see nearly fifty Australians competing across all ten Olympic Classes, all of whom have high hopes of confirming nation qualification spots for the 2024 Paris Olympics”, concluded Brambell.
The Olympic Test Event will be remembered for a lot of things, notably the West Australian Superstar that is Matt Wearn, but there were many ‘new’ or younger crews that really stood up and impressed many.
West Australian results at the Olympic Test Event:
ILCA 7 – 42 Entries
1st - Matt Wearn OAM – 1, 7, 5, (10), 5, 2, 3, 1, 6, (43 RET), 2 (42 points)
Mixed 470 – 17 Entries
6th - Nia Jerwood and Conor Nicholas – 7, (16), 16, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 3, 11, 12 (65 points)
ILCA 6 – 38 Entries
20th - Zoe Thomson – 11, 8, 13, (39 DSQ), 39 BFD, 10, 24, 9, 28, 23 (165 points)
2023 Australian Youth Match Racing Championships
The 2023 Australian Youth Match Racing Championships was hosted by the Royal Perth Yacht Club 3rd – 7th July 2023. Congratulations to CYCA’s Cole Tapper who finished in first place, CYCA’s Will Sargent who finished 2nd and Royal Freshwater Bay’s Marcello Torre who finished 3rd.
Special thanks to Sponsors BMS insurance Brokers, Healthway and SunSmart for supporting this event.
Full Results are HERE.
Zhik Youth Sail WA including WestSail Coaching Clinic on 30th of September to 3rd of October & Zhik WA Youth State Championships on 4th & 5th of October @MBSC
the Zhik Youth Sail WA event is a combination of the Traditional Westsail Coaching Clinic and Zhik WA Youth Sailing State Championship which is being hosted by Mounts Bay Sailing Club.
Some of the confirmed coaches for the Westsail coaching clinic Include; Nia Jerwood – Australian Sailing Squad 470 Sailor & 2021 Australian Olympic Representative in the 470 class, Conor Nicholas – Australian Sailing Squad 470 Sailor & 2015 U19 Radial Men’s World Champion, Zoe Thomson – Australian Sailing Team ILCA 6 Sailor & 2016 U19 Radial Women’s World Champion, Luke Elliott (Swifto) - Australian Sailing Squad ILCA 7 Sailor, Denis Jones – SoPYC Head Coach, Zac Littlewood - Australian Sailing Squad ILCA 7 Sailor & Ilca 6 world Champion, Oliver Paddurwe – RFBYC’s Club Laser coach, Hayley Clark – 2016 29er Women’s World Champion. All classes are welcome to attend, if your class is interested in attending please contact the Australian Sailing – WA office. You can also find more information here.
Entries for Zhik Youth Sail WA including both the Westsail & Zhik WA Youth Championships are open until the open until 24th of September at 8 pm. The link to the Entry Form is here.
We are also running a green Fleet as part of the Westsail Coaching Clinic which has limited Places you can find the link to entry here. Finally, Mounts Bay Sailing Club is still looking for Volunteers for the Zhik WA Youth Sailing State Championship, please find the link to Register here.
2023 Instructor and Coach Course Update
The Australian Sailing WA Instructor course schedule kicked off this past weekend with an Assistant Instructor course held at the Royal Perth Yacht Club. All three of the course participants are now qualified Assistant Instructors for each of their respective clubs.
The instructor and coach courses are filling up with participants so be sure to register for one of the courses that best suits your schedule! The schedule of courses can be found HERE.
If none of those courses suit you, we have made a survey for people to register their interest. We can offer instructor courses for Yacht Clubs if they have a pool of sailors ready to undertake the course. We ask that there are at least four participants for the course. The survey can be found by clicking HERE.
Registrations are now open for the highly anticipated 2023 SheSails Leadership Conference
Registrations are now open for the highly anticipated 2023 SheSails Leadership Conference, which is set to feature an incredible lineup of keynote speakers from the Australian Sailing Team (AST), America’s Cup 2024 Team Australia Challenge (TAC) and Emirates Team New Zealand – America’s Cup (ETNZ).
Scheduled to coincide with World Sailing’s global women’s sailing festival, Steering the Course 2023, the third edition of the SheSails Leadership Conference will be delivered via webinar at 6pm (AEDT) on Tuesday 3rd October 2023.
Four-time world champion turned AST ILCA 6 coach, Carolijn Brouwer is confirmed as one of the incredible keynote speakers who will headline the 2023 event.
Brouwer is set to be joined by Olympic silver medallist and co-skipper of the TAC for the inaugural Women's America's Cup in 2024, Olivia Price, who is the second of the esteemed keynote presenters confirmed for the event.
Read more or register HERE
Any questions on the above topics please contact the General Manager - WA, Lawson Dixon at lawson.dixon@sailing.org.au
You can find a fill list of Australian Sailing Contacts – here.
