Social media plays a crucial role in keeping the sailing community updated and engaged with all the latest news and events from their local club. The data analysis team at Shunt tracked the main corporate accounts of over 280 Australian Sailing affiliated clubs (as well as several key event accounts) to find out which ones were the top performers on social media in 2022*.

The analysis focused on several factors - such as performance and engagement - with the top five clubs in each category noted in the final records.

Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron placed first in both the Thought Starter and Devotion Driver categories, with 2,209 comments and 1,015 love reactions made on their posts throughout the year.

The Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron placed first in the Post Powerhouse category, having published 681 posts throughout the year. They were also awarded first place in the Exchange Agent category, having had their posts shared more than 1,700 times over the course of the year.

The Cruising Yacht Club of Australia also performed incredibly well on Facebook in 2022, placing first in the Engagement Expert category with more than 28,000 total reactions, comments, and shares on posts on their page over the course of the year. Their event Facebook accounts also performed well, with the Rolex Sydney to Hobart ranking first in the Audience All-Star (largest audience) and Performance Pro (average reactions per post) categories.

A full list of the Australian Sailing social media awards can be found here:

Engagement Expert (Total Comments, Reactions & Shares)

1. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 28,319
2. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 18,958
3. Rolex Sydney to Hobart (NSW) – 18,472
4. Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia (SA) – 12,802
5. Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (VIC) – 12,080

Thought Starter (Total Comments)

1. Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 2,209
2. Ocean Reef Sea Sports Club (WA) – 1,627
3. Illawarra Yacht Club (NSW) – 1,441
4. Keppel Bay Sailing Club (QLD) – 1,242
5. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 1,070

Devotion Driver (Total Love Reactions)

1. Cairns Cruising Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 1,015
2. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 977
3. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) - 913
4. Rolex Sydney to Hobart (NSW) – 853
5. Manly Harbour Boat Club (QLD) – 828

Exchange Agent (Total Shares)

1. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 1,703
2. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 1,310
3. Port Douglas Yacht Club (QLD) – 1,012
4. Rolex Sydney to Hobart (NSW) – 936
5. Ocean Racing Club of Victoria (VIC) - 784

Post Powerhouse (Total Posts)

1. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) - 681
2. Southport Yacht Club (QLD) - 564
3. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 530
4. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club (NSW) – 521
5. Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron (SA) – 456

Performance Pro (Average Reactions Per Post)

1. Rolex Sydney to Hobart (NSW) – 177.94
2. Brisbane to Gladstone Yacht Race (QLD) – 713
3. Noakes Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race (NSW) – 51.90
4. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 49.11
5. Newcastle Cruising Yacht Club (NSW) – 38.62

Audience All-Star (Largest Following)

1. Rolex Sydney to Hobart (NSW) – 57,239
2. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (NSW) – 10,764
3. Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron (QLD) – 9,006
4. Manly Harbour Boat Club (QLD) – 8,273
5. Manly 16ft Skiff Sailing Club (NSW) – 8,142

*Social Media performance based on analysis of 280 Sailing Clubs nationally from Jan-Dec 2022.