Tanya Kelly, a Queensland yachtswoman, drove her Beneteau First 34.7 to its first win yesterday, but had sailed consistently throughout the regatta, to claim the overall prize at Airlie Beach Race Week.

Spartan beat her nearest competitor, Brendon Gregg’s Quest 3 (NSW), by four points after the latter finished sixth in the final race.

“We are very happy to be here. We learnt a lot about current and tide this week – and staying out of them,” Tanya said.

“We certainly spent a lot of time optimising new sails and how to get good height out of them.

“This is the first time we’ve done Airlie Beach Race Week; it’s been a fantastic regatta. We’ve really enjoyed the courses. There has been a good mix of passage and windward/leeward races. We had one race where our strategy didn’t pay off, but the rest were good. We kept looking for max speed downwind.

“I have a lovely team of eight sailors who have been amazing this week. We pushed hard. I feel when I am on the boat there are eight people working hard, not just me. We’re definitely looking forward to coming back and we want to say a big thank you to the race committee on doing such a great job.”