The inaugural Northern Territory Women’s Keelboat Regatta was held over the 15 & 16 August from Darwin Sailing Club.  Final figures had 80 sailors, making up 13 crews over 3 divisions.

The event came about when twenty NT women had their travel plans to the Australian Women’s Keelboat Regatta (AWKR) at RMYS cancelled in May this year, a few of them put their heads together and came up with a plan. If 20 women could take a week off to sail Melbourne in winter, how many would come together to sail right here in the waters of Fannie Bay in the Dry Season? As it turns out more than we thought.

In the beginning it was just going to be a few extra races one weekend… From small beginnings, the event just kept gaining momentum as word spread around town. A small sponsorship grant from the NT Government was sourced for the project and the rest is history.

The event kicked off with a Women in Sport Q&A session with panelists from Cricket, Baseball & AFLW.  The event attracted 9 other sports and gave Sailing in the NT a chance to show what we have achieved by displaying profiles on all our regatta competitors around the club. We also managed to sell out 3 ladies learn to sail courses!

Finally the Regatta… 
As 7 boats squeezed into the lock in Cullen Bay and the rest were ferried from the club there was excitement in the air and everyone was keen to get going.  The forecast for the event was looking glassy in the lead up, 13 boats expecting and receiving the AP flag prior to race 1.  Thankfully, Darwin’s sea breeze kicked in early with nor’westers blowing up to 15 knots and a full 5 race regatta was completed.
Racing was a combination of windward/leeward and harbour courses to keep everyone on their toes.  The interstate teams were given a quick show of the charts at the Friday night briefing and goodie bags were handed out.

Division 1 S80’s raced off scratch and Blondie’s Claire Hall dropped a 2nd in the final race to take a picket fence victory with a consistently superb sailing display. Glass Onion & Cleaning Lady fought it out for 2nd place all the way to the final race. Glass Onion won the race after a stunning challenge of the entire fleet as they sailed around the top of the sandbar whilst the other 12 boats went round the bottom.
 

Division 2 was made up of 4 Elliott 7’s and a Blazer 23. All the interstate teams (2 x SA, 1 x QLD) were on the DSC Elliott’s but it was local knowledge that got the NT ‘Elliott Macphersons’, skippered by Deb Negus, the medals in a tight run series.
 

Division 3 was the surprise factor in this regatta that surpassed all expectations. We had more women than boats for the first 2 divisions so 4 local skippers took up the slack and unfurled their beauties to give lots of new sailors a run. Facing down some hefty opposition, Louise Becker on Boussole had an exceptional regatta and took the trophy.

Most races had less than 1 minute between 1st & 2nd places making for some fantastically close racing & most positions came down to the final race.  Close racing, a great social calendar, good weather and new friends made it an exceptional regatta and a whole lot of fun. For many of the sailors this was their first regatta, for others it was their first time back on the water in 20 years.  Here’s to hoping we can keep them all on the water for the rest of the season. This may have been the first NTWKR but it definitely won’t be the last.

A huge thank you to the 30+ volunteers that helped to put the event together in 8wks what a massive effort! From making table cloths, to sourcing trophies and on-water skills the volunteers came from everywhere! 

RESULTS

PHOTOS